Vengeance, Part II
by Boreal1974
Summary: Ven & Amber leave Homeland for Reservation, but what will be waiting for them there? Will it bring them closer together, or rip them apart? **** The next half of the story I had to write, thanks to Laurann Dohner. You made me love these characters and I am too impatient to wait for their stories! lol
1. Chapter 1

"You have a mate?" It felt like Amber's heart had turned to ice in her chest.

 _"Had."_ Ven corrected gently.

His big hand cupped the back of her head, stroking down the thick length of her braid absently, curling the thick plait around and around his knuckles.

"Mercile forced us together. We were the first of their new breeding trial." His upper lip curled and a snarl tore from his throat. "They had tried everything to create a Species baby; forcing us to have sex with many different females, stealing our seed and our females' eggs, trying to make test tube babies. They even brought humans in sometimes…but nothing worked. Then they started thinking how territorial we were, how possessive and they decided to try and make us mate for them, one male, one female. With 134 and I, they also decided to try and remove, as far as possible anyway, the lab environment.

"It was a dangerous idea, considering how hard it was to control us, but they thought stress might be a factor in their infertility problem." He sighed. "I only found out all this later, Amber…after 134 was gone."

"Who told you? And what do you mean by 'gone', Vengeance, what happened to her?" But a suspicious knot was forming in her gut. _Dear god. Surely not._

Vengeance opened his mouth, then closed it. When he finally spoke again, he didn't answer her questions, but continued the story as if she hadn't spoken.

"They tricked us. They'd had it planned so perfectly. One day I was released into a room, far bigger than the cages or cells they'd always kept us in, but still small enough that they could observe us easily. 134 was there. The room was full of plants and flowers, there was even a tiny skylight, far beyond our reach, but it was there. A real bed in the corner, too, the first I'd ever seen. It seemed beautiful to me." He shook his head again, this time in disgust.

"It was a pitiful imitation of real freedom, Amber, but it was more than we'd ever had. After we'd been alone for a couple days, they let in another male. He was on the breeding drugs they used, ones that make our kind go crazy with lust. He went after 134 as they knew he would, and I defended her. I killed him…just as they knew I would. It increased the bond between 134 and I, of course. Brought us closer together, faster. Just as they'd planned."

Amber had folded her hands on his chest, her chin on her hands, studying his face as he talked. The harsh, handsome _otherness_ of that face. The things it had seen and felt. Things she could only imagine, but that saddened and horrified her.

"Did you love her?" Amber already knew the answer, but thought maybe he needed to say it.

"I did, Amber. I loved her very much, and she loved me." His lips trembled, then firmed on a growl. "We'd never had that before, either of us. Hell, _any_ of us. You can't _love_ in an environment like that, where you _have_ nothing, _are_ nothing…nothing but a number.

"We should have known better, but they fooled us. I didn't believe it could last…but it _did._ For about six months. Then one day he came. _Trainor."_

Vengeance's whole body vibrated as he spoke the name, raising the hair on the back of her neck. Amber didn't want to repeat it, but when Ven stayed silent for many long minutes, she finally spoke up. "Who was Trainor, Ven?"

"Just a guard. One of many. But he was…true _evil,_ Amber. There was a lot of evil at Mercile, plenty to spare," Ven said savagely, "but he might've been the worst of them all. I knew him from before my time with 134. _Hated him._ Seeing him there in our 'sanctuary', it…threw me for a minute. The only guards we'd seen for ages just brought our food and removed it, or they cleaned and left. We hadn't been harmed in months. There had been only the occasional blood test. I didn't move. When I saw him. For just one second, I couldn't move." There was such bitter self-loathing in his voice, Amber could only blink. "He _smiled_ because I saw him and I didn't move. Then he shot me." Amber's hand flew to her mouth.

"What? With what?"

"A Taser. A very powerful one. He knew my issues with drugs, they all did. I found out later it's why they picked me for 134. They thought it might mean I wasn't as affected by all their little experiments over the years as the others. That I would be more virile, I guess."

"Trainor knew perfectly well what dose that would have rendered me unconscious in seconds, but he didn't want that. _No._ He wanted me awake. Awake, but helpless. That's why he used the Taser, it didn't knock me out. I just couldn't move." She felt Ven's heart starting to race under her palms and Amber wanted to tell him to stop, to shut up because she couldn't take anymore, but she didn't…and he didn't stop.

"134 went after him as soon as I fell, but he just Tasered her, too. Then he walked over and picked her up by her hair." He blinked, staring down at Amber's braid wrapped around his hand as if wondering how it'd gotten there. "134 had blonde hair, almost silver. Not like yours at all, but beautiful, too. She couldn't even struggle."

 _"'Experiment's over.'_ That's all he said. Trainor. Then he took the knife out of his pocket and…he slit her throat."

For a second Amber couldn't breathe, she could only stare at Ven. Her eyes burned with tears that just couldn't fall. Some things were too awful for tears.

"He dropped her on the ground next to me, left her there while she bled out. And all I could think as I watched her die was that we'd been happy. _Happy._ Even in that goddamn hellhole." He closed his eyes. "When I woke up, I was alone. Back in one of the regular cages as if the whole thing with 134 had never happened. It might have been better if I could have believed it was just a dream…, but Trainor was there. He taunted me by telling me it all. How the scientists planned it, how we fell for it, and how he'd known it would never work, because we were abominations, not meant to live and certainly not meant to breed. He'd been planning killing 134 for _months,_ Amber. He told me so. What kind of creature does that?" Vengeance opened those wounded eyes and stared at her, but she had no answers for him. She just wrapped her arms around him and held on tight.

They stayed that way for a long, long time. Both quiet with their own thoughts, bodies intertwined and still. Finally Vengeance started talking again.

"I had no will to live after that. I did everything possible to make them kill me, but nothing worked. I was too _special._ Once we were freed and came here, I started to want to live again, but I missed her so much and I was so terribly lonely. It seemed like my instinct to survive was messed up with my need for a mate, my brain insisted I needed one to have the other. Or so Doctor Joy says." He gave her a weary smile. "She is a good person, very unlike Dr. Krueger, but she still exhausts the hell out of me. I believe she might be right. Or maybe I just… _hope."_

Amber was thinking hard, working it out in her head. "So…your instinct to survive was driving you to find a mate? Any mate? To replace her?"

"In a way, yes. I was seeking comfort and peace, things that for a Species male only a mate can provide, Amber. But I knew better, somewhere deep inside. You can't force love and you can't replace it. I knew that, but -" He swallowed hard. "I was broken, Amber. Can you see now why I agreed to be destroyed if it happened again?

"But you know now that it won't, don't you?"

"No. It won't happen ever again, but I had to sure, Amber. _You_ made me sure. Do I still feel lonely and sad? Sometimes, yes. Not so much lately." He lifted his hand and turned it, watching her braid slide over his fingers again. "Do I feel overwhelming lust at times, lust that makes me want to act out without thinking? Absolutely."

"There were times with you that it was very hard not to just… _pounce._ But it wasn't that horrible, desperate void to fill, it was just… _being Species_. Being male." He gave a rueful laugh, and smiled at her. "And you being _you._ I wanted you so much, every damn day we were together, Amber. You, in particular, not just _any_ female. I still want you." He shifted in the bed, his eyes darkening. "But I want you, for _you,_ Amber. Not as a replacement for 134."

She believed him. About that and everything else. And she knew her decision had been made.

" _Mercile_ did this to you when they murdered your mate. That is on them." Amber lifted a hand when Ven opened his mouth and he shut it again, waiting for her to finish. "You're still responsible for your actions, _yes._ Though I would say not entirely, Ven. New Species were just learning how to deal with themselves and humans when you came here, they still are in some ways. It's not Justice's or the NSO's fault either…but you should have been put in intensive therapy, isolated from the general population until you had stabilized. As you obviously have now. But regardless, the important thing is _you_ overcame what they did to you. I know why you chose your name now, I get it…but this is your real vengeance on them, you know. _Surviving._ And not letting them destroy you _inside."_

"They came very close." Hope was rising in his chest, threatening to choke him. His hands clenched at his sides.

"I know, sweetheart. _I know._ I also think," she hesitated, then said. "I think you should apologize to those two women. I think they would appreciate it…and that you _need_ to do it. To put that wounded, broken male and his actions in the past, Ven. So you can move on, so you _all_ can _."_

He sighed. Doctor Joy had already told him this, many times. He thought Tiger would probably allow it, but Wrath…

Ven sighed again. "You are right. If their mates agree, I will do this. It is time." He looked down at her hand on his chest. "Amber, does this…do you… Does this mean that you forgive me?"

"I never knew that Ven _to_ forgive him, silly. The male I know has been nothing but honorable and kind and gentle…well, mostly." She smiled as she shifted next to him, obviously feeling the hard arousal that had been rising for the last few minutes. "There _are_ times when it is okay _not_ to be gentle, Ven."

"Thank god. Can now be one of those times?"

"Oh yes." She giggled when he instantly shoved her back on the hospital bed and yanked her T-shirt up. He stopped, growling at the sight of her bra. "What is this thing? I hate it."

"A bra. What's wrong with it?" Amber looked down at the satin pink cups, then up at him, raising her eyebrows.

Ven laughed at her expression. "It covers you from my eyes and mouth, that's what's wrong with it. Get it off."

Amber took her time, flicking her fingers over the front closure, biting her lips as the heat inside him built. She was obviously teasing him. He didn't like it.

Well, maybe he liked it _a little…_

When he finally growled, she pulled the damn thing open at once. His eyes narrowed. He was beginning to suspect Amber enjoyed his sounds as much as he did hers. He growled again, louder this time and watched her shiver, her eyes half closing, those beautiful breasts trembling.

He grinned. It was good to be right. His tongue touched his lips as he looked down at her and her pink nipples went dark and tight.

"Amber," he breathed before lowering his head. He brushed each peak with his lips before turning his attention to just one, drawing the hard nub into his hot mouth.

Her hand slid up to cup the back of his head as he teased her sweet flesh with tongue and lips and teeth. _Mine,_ he thought, with a fierce surge of joy. _All mine._

Amber felt his hand easing its way down her ribs and tummy, the rough warm weight of it making her squirm. Then he thumbed open the button of her pants, working his fingers inside. When one digit slid under her panties, stroking her slick core, Amber bit back a moan, all too aware of Justice's prescence outside the door, but her hips thrust uncontrollably into Ven's touch.

 _Please,_ she begged silently, looking into his eyes.

"You want me very much, don't you, Amber?" His words rumbled against her skin before he pulled back to see her eyes.

"Y-yes," she stuttered, trying to breathe as he continued to stroke her, with two fingers now, driving her crazy.

"Tell me," he demanded. "Tell me what you want from me."

She squirmed. She'd never been one to be shy about sex, but there was no privacy here, at any second Justice or the doctor could walk back in….

A blunt fingertip teased her entrance, slipping inside her just a fraction. Her head twisted back and forth on the pillow as everything inside her tightened. She needed that finger inside her, she needed him.

 _"Ven."_

"I love when you say my name, Amber, but that is not what I asked you. What do you want?" Her cheeks heated at his intense look, the fierceness there.

"You know," she whispered.

"Oh I do." His finger pressed inside her soaked pussy another inch, then two. She gasped, arching her back. His eyes fastened on her breasts and she cupped them for him, letting her fingertips tease the taut tips. His eyes went black, but he was ruthless. "Say it," he growled.

"Make me come, Vengeance. I want you to make me come."

"So _come_ , Amber." His voice had gone low and hard, his thumb swirled over her clit now, sending tendrils of need deep into her belly. His finger plunged inside her all at once, thick and deep. Then two together, the width of them stretching her as she fought the scream that wanted to tear from her throat. Her hands tightened on her breasts, pinching her nipples as the pleasure built inside her. Ven lowered his head, letting his lips brush just below her ear.

"Come for me, beautiful." The warmth of his breath, the deep tones of his voice, the hard press of that gorgeous near-naked body against her, his fingers inside of her….she whimpered, and pressed her face hard into the pillow as those whimpers turned to moans.

His mouth opened on her skin, hot and sucking. Nipping now. Faster and faster, his fingers fucked her, his thumb caressing that tiny ball of nerves…she couldn't breathe, couldn't think. Then there was the sudden, sharp sting of Ven's teeth as he bit her. Shocked, her eyes flew open, as the flash of pain became the spark that ignited the powderkeg of pleasure and shot her straight into ecstasy.

Amber's body shook, coming off the hospital bed, her toes curling inside the shoes she still had on. Every muscle going taut as a bow as the orgasm rippled through her. She almost screamed as Vengeance slid his fingers from her too abruptly, while her muscles were still fluttering. He leapt half over her body as the door opened. Amber held her breath, Ven's big body blocking out most everything from her view.

"Let's get that blood now. Vengeance. Justice says you've been cleared to…" The doctor's voice trailed off as he must have noted Ven crouched over Amber. "What the hell are you doing?" He didn't sound angry, just baffled.

Then Justice entered the room, his dark hair just visible under the muscular arm blocking Amber's vision. She groaned, leaning her head into that arm as she heard a soft laugh, quickly muffled.

"Hold up, Doctor, let's give them a minute. Ven, that's _one_ minute, fix your female's clothes, damnit. We need to talk."

"But _what_ were they doing?" The doctor's voice had become almost strident.

"You're a doctor, surely you can figure it out." Justice's voice was dry as the door squeaked open.

"He can't have sex! He shouldn't even be awake! My god, Justice, your people-" Dr. Harris sounded like he was ready pull his hair out before the door closing cut him off.

Amber couldn't help but giggle as silence fell. She pushed at Ven, who rolled away reluctantly, watching her reach for her bra. Instantly, he snatched it out of her fingers and ripped it in two before she could blink, sending the pieces arching unerringly toward a trash can in the corner.

"I can't believe you just did that."

He grinned and shrugged, without a hint of apology. She swatted him as she yanked her T-shirt down. "I'm too damn busty to go with a bra, you idiot."

"What does that mean?" He cocked his head curiously.

"It means my boobs are too big to just be bouncing around free all the time!" She glared, he laughed..

"You aren't serious?" She stomped her foot. His jaw dropped when he realized she apparently was serious. "That's just…stupid." His eyes trailed over the shirt clinging to her breasts. "Very, very stupid."

The door opened again and Amber buttoned her jeans back up with a yelp. "We'll talk about your fashion sense later," she hissed before turning to Justice, crossing her arms over her chest with a tight-lipped smile.

Justice's eyes flickered to Amber's reddened face, her arms and then to the bright tangle of pink fabric hanging over the trash can in the corner. He coughed once, looking at the floor for a second before raising his eyes, but they held a twinkle that couldn't be hidden.

Amber blushed harder and gave Ven a narrowed look, but he only winked.

"So." Justice's shoulders shook once before he cleared his throat and got down to business. "You're cleared to leave, after Dr. Harris gets his blood, Ven. The panel was convinced it was a misunderstanding and that your interaction with Miss Keeley was friendly, mutual and that the violence incurred was essentially a harmless misunderstanding."

Amber sank against the wall in relief as Ven nodded. Justice continued, "I also have a proposition for you, Amber. Well, actually both of you, if you'll agree."

Amber straightened, wondering what in the hell was going on now.

"And this needs to stay quiet whether you agree or not, Amber. I'm about to tell you very private Species business. You've already signed a waiver, and I trust you, but I need to be clear, you mustn't repeat this to _anyone,_ Amber."

She nodded, even more curious.

"I know our original schedule has you working at Homeland through next week, and then moving on to Reservation, but circumstances have…changed. We are getting ready to make a major purchase of land farther north, on the Oregon border. Half a million acres to be exact. This had been in the works for awhile, but I just found out we cleared a major legislation huddle just about an hour ago. It's been a day." He smiled ruefully, rubbing the back of his neck.

 _I bet that poor guy gets a lot of stress knots from his job_ , Amber thought sympathetically, even as her ears perked up. Half a million acres. Wow. That was nearly double Reservation and Homeland's acreage combined.

"Anyway, I want you, along with the team you've been training to fly up and look the parcel over in about a week. I want your impressions of the land and a high level overview of any concerns, including your recommendations on at least five build sites that would be free of watershed or reasonable wildlife issues. And I need this report within two weeks of your arrival there."

Amber blinked. "That would be a huge undertaking, Justice. I…"

He nodded quickly, but raised a hand to cut her off. "I get you can't say yes right away, if at all. I'm having a proposal drawn up as we speak. A proposal that includes a very _generous_ offer of compensation, I might add," he stressed with a smile.

"But here's my other idea, I was thinking, while you look it over, why don't you take a few days off? In fact, how would you feel about taking those days off together -you and Vengeance - at Reservation? A mini-vacation of sorts. We can give you one of the private cabins. Call it an official apology for the incident today, if you like. And a way to get you familiar with the lay of the land over there…not to mention a mild bribe of sorts. I think you two would enjoy some time alone together, am I right?" He winked and Amber smiled despite herself.

"Yes." She said immediately. "I mean, not yes on the offer, at least not until I see it." Amber laughed. "But as to the cabin and all, I would love to. Of course, it's up to Vengeance, too." Her eyes flew to Ven's, who had been watching them both, his eyes dark and quiet. Now his gaze settled onto her alone, making her breathless in a heartbeat.

Vengeance continued looking straight into her eyes as he answered Justice. "Yes. We accept. Get the helicopter prepped. We'll be ready in an hour."


	2. Chapter 2

Actually it took more like three.

Amber saw no reason for having to go back to her place when she had plenty of things for a couple days in her room here. She decided to go pack while Harris was taking Vengeance's blood.

"Hurry back." Ven's voice had that growl in it that did _things_ to her insides. She nodded and fled before he decided to come up out of that bed, doctor and all, and follow her. The thought of Harris's face if Ven did _that,_ had her grinning as she left the hospital.

It only took minutes to pack, but since she didn't have her backpack with her, she was forced to throw everything into a big, old suitcase she found in the closet.

Amber struggled with the clunky thing, cursing as she yanked it through the too narrow doorway.

With a creak, it finally let go and she flew backward. Right into a hard pair of arms that caught her and set her neatly on her feet. She turned to see Brass behind her, looking awkward and stiff. The tape on his nose didn't help..

"Hey, Amber."

Without a word, she picked the suitcase up from the ground and started to move around him.

"Come on. Just stop for a minute, okay? Let me explain."

"I don't have time for this, Brass. I need to get back to Ven."

"I thought we were friends?" The flare of disappointment and hurt in his eyes had her huffing out a breath. She was still very angry about what had happened to Ven, and Brass's part in it, but after some of the things Justice had said….

Amber dropped the suitcase with a scowl, glancing at her watch. "You have five minutes." 

Brass sighed, folding his arms over his chest as he studied her. "I really _did_ think he hurt you at first. That Saturday we ran into each other right in this spot." He looked around and shuddered. The sincerity of his reaction gave her pause. "I saw you with tears on your face and his smell all over you… All I could think about was that he'd had his hands on you, Amber. It was hard to focus on anything you said after that. Tiger nearly had to beat Ven to death when he went after Zandy. And with Wrath's mate, Lauren..." His jaw clenched, "thinking of you in a situation like that made me a little crazy. But you insisted no one had bothered you, and I didn't smell sex. I knew Ven's situation with the panel and as angry as I was, I didn't want to jump the gun. I decided to wait and see." He shook his head. "It wasn't easy to make that decision, Amber. It took everything I had not to go and tear him apart."

She swallowed. "Okay, I get that. But when we met him on the path, when he attacked you, and I told you I was fine? I know it was tense, but I also know you knew immediately what was between him and me."

He nodded. "Yes, I did. I got that he wanted you and that you were okay with that, _with him."_ His hands clenched. "But when he challenged me…our instincts are so strong sometimes, Amber. I couldn't help fighting him, anymore than he could help attacking me. And I was terrified you would get hurt when he ran off with you."

Adamant, she shook her head. "He's never hurt me, Brass. _Never._ He looked broken at the very thought of me being _scared_ of him."

Brass threw up his hands. "How was I supposed to know it would be so different with you?! If I had let it go at _that_ point, Amber… If I had just left you there with him half-feral like that? In the woods alone, and anything had happened to you? Do you realize what might've happened if you _had_ gone to his cabin like he wanted and you'd come back smelling like sex with _Vengeance?_ " He rolled his eyes. "With his reputation, the second someone had scented him on you, the panel would've been on him before you could have yelled 'boo'. That's why I went so hard at you in the conference room, you know. Covering all our bases and getting you pissed helped convince them Ven hadn't really done anything wrong. You were awesome, actually." He took a deep breath and gave her a rueful smile.

"So…all along, you were just trying to be a good friend?" she said it slowly, looking over at him, her eyes narrowed.

"In some ways, _yes._ I didn't want Ven punished after what I saw was between you two, but in other ways…." His shoulders slumped in defeat. _"_ I _was_ jealous, Amber. That the honest truth. And pissed as hell he got to you while I was too busy trying to play the gentleman."

Amber sucked in a breath at that. "When Ven and I were alone. Before you and the others arrived in the woods, Vengeance said that you…wanted me. I told him he was wrong."

"Did you?' Brass looked out at the common area, where Species and evening shift humans milled after dinner, with an odd, twisted smile on his face. "He wasn't wrong, Amber. And you know it. At least you do _now_. It kinda sucks for me that you didn't have a clue before."

Her throat closed, but she tried to get the words out anyway. "Brass. I… _damn…"_

He waved her silent. "I get it. It's alright. You can't choose who you want. It just _is._ For you, it's him. I just hope the lucky son of a bitch appreciates you."

Spinning on his heel, Brass walked off. He didn't turn around or respond when she called his name, even though she knew he heard her.

With a sigh, Amber picked up the suitcase and headed back to the hospital.

Vengeance was just coming through the doors when she walked up. He took the case from her hand, holding the door open as he waved her inside. "The helicopter is being prepared and the team called up. We will wait together."

"Yes, we will." She smiled at his bossiness, reaching up a hand to brush her fingers over his jaw. His lips tightened even as he leaned into her touch. "What is it?" She frowned at his tension.

"I smell Brass." His nose wrinkled. "I dislike smelling another male on you. You reeked of him enough before, but the scent is fresher now."

"That's because I ran into him." They sat next to each other on the waiting room chairs…or rather, Amber _tried_ to sit next to him. Ven just hauled her right into his lap. She told him everything the other Species had said while Vengeance nuzzled her neck. He didn't comment until she got to that part about Brass wanting her. He growled once and nipped her neck sharply. "Hey! What was that for?"

"What is that expression? Oh yes…' _I told you so'."_

She laughed and swatted at him, before running a hand over her skin where his teeth bitten.

"Did I hurt you?" He was instantly contrite. "Amber, I try to remember how delicate you are, but sometimes it is hard. Species… we bite and nip a lot when we…care about someone. I must stop, I am so sorry." He looked so furious with himself, Amber could only laugh, cupping his face in her hands and pulling him nose to nose with her.

"I am not delicate, silly. And no, you must _not._ Yeah, it stings a little when you do that, but mostly, it really… _turns me on."_

Ven blinked. "It does?" His voice had gone even lower than usual. There was a hint of roughness in the deep tones that made Amber shiver as his head bent down….

"Chopper's ready." Flame's cheery voice made Ven curse and Amber jump.

"You did that on purpose." Ven's tone was grumpy as he picked Amber off his lap and stood, tucking her up against his side as he glared at Flame, standing just inside the front doors.

"No idea what you're talking about." The red-headed Species put his hands behind his back, pursuing his lips. The picture of innocence was quite _un_ convincing, especially due to the wicked sparkle in his eye.

Amber giggled.

"Don't encourage him. He's not funny." Ven bit out.

"Of course I am. You just don't have a sense of humor." Flame winked at Amber.

"Are you flirting with my female?" Vengeance bared his teeth at the other male, letting go of Amber to roll his huge shoulder muscles threateningly.

Flame hastily backed away, holding the door for them. "Of course not. Jeez, Ven. Chill."

Ven guided Amber through the door and into the late afternoon sunshine, before turning to smile tightly at the other male. "Watching you skitter across the floor like a cat who's just pissed off a Rottweiler…now that's _funny._ "

Flame hissed, but Ven only grinned and jogged to the helicopter, Amber at his side.

Reservation was beautiful.

Amber had seen pictures. Offline, of course, as the NS strictly monitored any and all information released to the public. The pictures had not done it justice. As much as she'd seen of California's impressive landscape, Reservation quite literally took her breath away. It was all towering green spires, tumbling white rocks and long, wildflower dotted meadows.

They were met off the helio pad by a Species named Torrent. He had a jeep ready and waiting.

"You'll be on the northern edge of the Wild Zone, just across the river." He said as he drove. "We re-modeled all the cabins over the winter. I think you'll enjoy the change. Before they were really…umm, _rustic_ would be the polite word," the big black-haired male laughed. "But after an attack last year, Slade decided we had to do better. Since they were upping the security end of construction, he went all out and made them a helluva lot more comfortable, too."

They crossed a pretty, new-looking bridge over what must have been the river Torrent had mentioned. It was a typical Northern California river; a frothy silver ribbon of rapids and rocks. "You swim?" Torrent asked Amber.

"Oh yeah. Like a fish. Or a dolphin. SoCal girl here. I was using a board almost before I learned to walk."

"Board?" Both males frowned at her.

She laughed. "Surfboarding. You've heard of it, surely?"

Ven nodded and Torrent looked at her in frank admiration. "I've wanted to try that since I saw that movie…"

"Let me guess, _Point Break?"_

"Yes." Torrent sounded delighted as he stopped the jeep.

Amber shook her head in exasperation as Ven put his hands on her waist and hefted her out the passenger door.

"I have two feet, you know," she muttered in his ear. "I can walk."

"And I have two hands, and they like touching you." Those hands cupped her ass, pulling her flush against him for one breathless moment before he set her down. "All of me likes touching you, Amber." He was blatantly aroused, hard as stone. Her lips parted as she looked up at him. One touch and he had her wet and needy. His eyes read her expression perfectly.

"Inside," he barked. "I need to wash you, you smell too much of Brass," his nose wrinkled. "And Flame."

"Okay, okay," she laughed, slipping around him to open the door. Amber stopped in the entrance as she looked around in awe.

Honey-colored wood glowed softly in all directions. It was everywhere, in the accents of the hard-carved table of the dining room to her right, or the wide, planked floor of the living room to her left. She was drawn to the latter first. There was an enormous fireplace, already roaring along, despite the mild spring night. The furniture here was all in browns and gold, and looked extremely comfortable, completing the warm and cozy look. There was even a lovely faux-fur rug spread in front of the crackling flames on the hearth. It was huge and cream-colored. Unable to resist, Amber slipped off her shoes and stepped into cloud-like softness, sighing happily.

Then she glanced up and squealed in delight. There was a chandelier above her head, also in wood, with glass accents. Hard-carved as well, by the look of it. Stags and bears and cougars prowled around the wide circle, chasing the twinkling lights in the frosted glass.

"Wow," she breathed.

"Valiant will be pleased when I tell him of your reaction. That is his work, as is the table. He is my friend and lives here in the Wild Zone with his mate." Torrent set down a rather large insulated bag, before looking at Ven. "This is food. We didn't have time to stock you up earlier. I only came and opened up the place and started the fire before picking you up." He hesitated, looking from Amber then back to Ven. "Can I speak to you a minute? Alone?"

Ven looked irritated, but Amber intervened. If it was important, he would tell her when Torrent had gone.

"It's okay, I'll just grab a quick shower, since apparently _I stink."_ With a wink at Ven and a cheery wave at Torrent, Amber ran upstairs. Torrent watched her go until Ven let out a long, low growl of warning. Instantly, the male raised his hands and averted his eyes.

"Sorry. Not a lot of females out here, Vengeance. And none like _that_ one."

Ven inclined his head. "I understand, but if your eyes linger on my female like that again, I'll rip them out of your head."

Torrent swallowed. "Clear enough. Listen, your female seems tough, for a human, at least from those rumors we heard about what she did to Brass today…are they true, by the way?"

"If you heard she broke his nose…twice, then yes." Vengeance's smile was proud. "Yes, they are."

The male's jaw dropped. "Well, I didn't want her to be frightened, but I guess that isn't likely." He shook his head in amusement. "It's just that I have a wounded cheetah out here. It shouldn't really go after a human, let alone you, but animals in pain do funny things. Keep an eye out and let me know if you see my cat, would you?"

Ven nodded. "Of course. Anything else?" He could hear the water running upstairs. The thought of Amber standing under the spray, naked and wet, was driving him crazy. Restlessly, he shifted his weight.

"Just the usual. You are aware of the animals we have here, and the residents. Don't let her wander. Not that I expect you to give her much time for that." He gave Ven a knowing smile.

"Thank you for the information. I will radio if I spot your cheetah. Now go." Ven practically pushed the other Species out the door, closing it on a muffled burst of laughter.

The water was already off, he could tell. Too late to join her, but there would be another time for sharing sex in the shower. _Many times._ There were other places that would do. Vengeance glanced over at the hardwood table and smiled. He was hungry and he had an idea.

Amber peeked out of the bathroom door. Apparently, Torrent was gone. Vengeance was at the bottom of the stairs, his hand on the railing. At the sight of him, her stomach did a free fall straight to her toes. He was so damn hot.

She knew that he'd showered earlier at the hospital. Amber may not be Species but even she'd smelled the clean scent of him when he'd hauled her into his lap in the hospital lobby. Ven had his own smell, vaguely spicy and smoky, that drove her crazy.

Plus, he's changed into some jeans and a dark blue button-up. He hadn't bothered to button the shirt, just pushed his arms through the sleeves and let it hang. Now she noticed that the top button of his jeans had been left undone, too. _He was obviously trying to kill her._

Her eyes were drawn to the flat hard V, the smooth tanned skin above that unfastened button, making her mouth water. She licked her lips unconsciously.

"Amber? _Amber._ "

She blinked to see Ven staring at her, his eyes dark. She suspected he'd had to say her name more than once from his tone, but who knew? Her brain was kind of untrustworthy around his level of sexiness. She took a breath and tried to focus on what he was saying.

"Get down here. I'm hungry."

She raised her eyebrows at that. "Really? What I'm supposed to do about that?" She was teasing. Amber had no problem making him something to eat, but the He-man way he spoke sometimes deserved a bit of sass, even though she knew he didn't mean it. It was just a Species thing. Still…"I'm not even dressed," she fiddled with the edge of her towel.

"Just get down here. And Amber… _you won't need clothes."_

Her heart racing at that, Amber walked down the stairs wrapped only in that towel. It was a deep red and very fluffy. When her feet touched the last step, Vengeance curled his fingers right between her breasts where she'd tucked the towel into a knot to hold it up.

He tugged her close, and even with her on the step above him, Vengeanace towered over her. "I said, no clothes." With one tug, the towel was gone. Ven tossed it over his head and took her in from head to toe.

With the warmth for the fire, Amber wasn't at all cold, but she shivered under his gaze. Ven had never seen her totally naked. She felt exposed as his dark eyes ran over her, lingering on her breasts, which tightened instantly, then down to the hollow of her belly, the generous swell of her hips. Amber was a tall, curvy woman, supremely confident of her body, but Ven's gaze was so intense it made her a bit shy. And wicked hot. All at the same time. Heat was pooling between her legs. She tightened her thighs together and bit back a moan.

 _"Come."_ Ven turned his back on her and strode into the kitchen.

She didn't follow immediately, trying to get her dizzy head together. What did he want? For her to cook him dinner naked or something?

 _"Now,_ Amber."

 _Goddamn him._ She stepped around the corner.

Vengeance was sitting at the table, his chair pushed back from it perhaps a foot from it as he waited for her. When Amber appeared, he had to clench his hands at the sight of that body again.

Instead, he tapped the polished surface directly in front of him. "Sit."

She moved between him and the table obediantly, but before she could hop on the rather high surface, his hands fastened on her hips, freezing her in place.

"Wait." He lifted her braid in his hands, studying it. It was damp from the shower, but she hadn't undone it, too impatient to get back to him maybe, to bother with the chore of washing it. He smiled as it trailed through his fingers. He slipped the tie, unwinding the thick chocolate brown strands, loosening them into gentle waves with his fingers. He took his time with the chore, until her hair hung unbound, brushing the back of her thighs, framing her delicious body. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Ven's mouth started to water. He lifted her abruptly, setting her down on the table. The wood must have been cool against her bare ass. Amber squirmed, her breasts swaying.

 _Shit._ He couldn't take much more of this.

"Lay back." His voice was ragged, almost harsh.

"Why?" Her own voice had gone shaky.

"I told you. I'm hungry, Amber. _Lay back."_

She did as he commanded, her soft, smooth stomach visibly trembling as Ven ran his hands over the tops of her thighs, then down to her calves and up again. She was such a gorgeous map of silky curves and he wanted to memorize everyone, but as for now… He shoved her legs wide apart. Her fingers reached for the edges of the table, found them and curled tight as he bent his head.

She whimpered. He knew Amber was remembering what he had done to her in that forest, because the smell of her arousal was driving him half mad.

He opened his mouth against her sweet, wet pussy. Tongue delving inside, hot and lapping until she gripped the table tighter, flailing as he tormented her. He let the tip of his tongue brush over her clit once, and her cries got louder, more urgent. She spread her thighs wider, opening herself to him in a way that drove him to take her higher. When Ven sucked her tiny bundle of nerves into his mouth, Amber arched right off the table; begging him to stop, for him _not_ to stop. For more, more, _more._

Vengeance gave it to her, her words making him crazy. His hand slid to her wet center, not teasing her as he had before but thrusting two fingers into her hard and fast until her pussy convulsed around him almost instantly, squeezing his fingers so tightly together he groaned. His cock was so swollen, it threatened to burst from his jeans.

With a growl, he reached down with his other hand and ripped his fly open, wrapping his fingers around his aching length. Closing his eyes and leaning his head against her shaking body, he stroked himself up and down a couple times. Shuddering as he almost released his seed then and there, but Ven clenched his teeth and got to his feet. He slipped his fingers from Amber's wetness, watching her twist on the table beneath him.

She was the loveliest thing he had ever seen. He'd dreamed of having her in his bed, many times. Of exactly how he do it; taking her slow, bent over in front of him, that hair loose and cascaded down her back, but now…the table would do. And he had one other change to his fantasy, as well.

He let his swollen tip caress her entrance, and she gasped, her eyes flying open, that beautiful golden brown that made everything inside him right for the first time in forever.

"I want your eyes on me when I fill you for the first time, Amber."

"Yes," she breathed, looking up at him in perfect trust.

He wanted to go slow, he _meant_ to go slow, but she was too beautiful and his need too great.

Ven pushed inside of her, hard and fast, stretching her wide, groaning out loud as her tightness surrounded him. Amber felt more amazing than he had ever dreamed. Her slick heat surrounded him and he let out a growl so loud, the windowpanes in the kitchen vibrated. A vase toppled over and crashed into the sink. He froze, terrified for one heart-stopping second he had ruined everything by being too scary, too rough.

Then Amber gasped, her eyes rolling back in her head. "Don't stop. Oh god, don't you fucking stop, Ven!"

Her back arched again, forcing him even deeper inside her. Vengeance sucked in a breath and growled again, this time with ruthless, ear-shattering abandon. She wasn't scared, she wasn't afraid…Amber was _his._

And she had told him what she wanted.

He slid one hand under her ass as he pulled back once, then thrust again, harder. Shaking the table. Faster. Amber's nails clawed at the wood.

She screamed his name, wrapping her legs tighter around his waist, her heels banging into the hard muscles of his ass. Ven leaned over her, one hand flat against the table, the other still cupped under her. He drove himself, losing himself to the rhythm and the heat and the pleasure until she exploded under him. So wild with her release, the hot clench of her orgasm fisting his dick hard enough to almost hurt.

He came violently, shooting inside her again and again until his legs shook and he had to place both hands on the table to hold himself up over her trembling body. Both of them were slick with sweat and panting hard, staring at each other as they came down from that incredible high.

They were locked tightly together, his base of his cock bulging inside of her, making sure he could neither pull out or let her go.

But Ven wasn't going to do either of those things.

As far as he was concerned, he was home. _For the first time in his life._


	3. Chapter 3

Amber was curled into the side of the couch, her head pillowed on a hard thigh. Ven was stroking her unbound hair as they watched the end of the movie. She bit back a smile. She had finally introduced him to Star Wars and Ewoks. This was their second time watching the series through in four days.

To say Ven was fascinated was a bit of an understatement. She glanced up as he used the remote to shut the TV off. He appeared lost in thought, his eyes far away.

"Do you think everyone has a dark side that they have to fight?"

Amber blinked at the question. His face was half shadowed, the flickering light of the fire highlighting his New Species-ness; the heavy brows, hard, pronounced jaw and the slight otherness that made his looks so mesmerizing.

"I guess so," she said slowly. "Some darker than others." Amber thought of her ex, Josh, and grimaced. "And some people are just really good at masking who they are inside. You faced the darkness inside of you, Ven. That makes you part of the light…or so Yoda would say. _'Well you have done, my young Species.'_ " She giggled at her terrible imitation of the small green Jedi and Ven smiled down at her, but his face was still troubled.

"You thought of something just now, _someone."_

"What are you, a real Jedi in training? Or maybe just psychic?" she teased, but inside she was squirming.

"Amber. Your eyes went blank and your body stiffened and for a second there was a faint scent on you, almost like fear, but not quite."

She sighed. "That would be disgust, not fear. I'm not scared of Josh."

This time it was Ven who stiffened. "Who is this Josh?"

"My ex-boyfriend."

" _Boy-friend?"_ His nose wrinkled. "Is that like mate?"

She snorted. "Not the way you guys think of it, trust me." She knew, of course, some of the Species psychology, and the way they defined mate did _not_ apply to her and Josh. "Think of him more as someone I shared sex with for a time."

The instant growl from above her made Amber sigh again. "Neither one of us are virgins here, Vengeance."

"I know. But do not expect me to like this man, or hearing about him."

She laughed. "You don't have to like him, I certainly don't. Though my dad did." She rubbed her eyes. "And as for hearing about him, why don't we change the subject then? He's not my fave topic."

"No. Something troubles you about him. I want to know why. Tell me."

Amber straightened, pulling her head from Ven's lap and curling into the far corner of the couch. He watched her go with darkened eyes, he did not force her back to him as she half-expected. Instead, he yanked her feet into his lap, his big hands cupping and twisting them until she relaxed slightly. Ven had discovered how much she loved her feet rubbed days ago. He'd been working diligently ever since on becoming the absolute _god_ of foot massage.

His thumb pressed hard into the ball of one foot, eliciting a gasp of pleasure from her even as her mind churned. She didn't want to tell Ven abut Josh. That time in her life embarassed her to no end.

"You will calm down," he ordered softly, "and talk of this 'boyfriend' and why his name troubles you so."

"Oh fine," she said, swooping her hair behind her with one arm, and letting her head fall over the arm of the couch while Ven worked his magic with those strong hands. "Species are pretty honest as whole, so it's probably hard for you to understand how deceptive people can be…"

"No," he growled. "It is not."

She lifted her head from a second, remembering what he had gone through at Mercile. Her eyes met his as she shivered, "I guess not." She let her head fall back again. "But even normal people can be so subtle, so good at hiding their true selves….or maybe he wasn't. Maybe I was just stupid after all." There was no warning, only a sudden sense of movement and then Amber found herself in Ven's arms.

He tucked his head into the crook of her neck from behind, his breath warm on her skin. "You will tell me this story without insulting yourself. You are not stupid, Amber."

She snuggled back into his warmth, in that one instant overwhelmed by how happy Ven made her feel, how safe and protected…how _loved._ She shivered again, her eyes stinging. His arms tightened, the heavy muscles rolling against her ribs, the hard ridge of his chest firm against her back. _"Amber."_

"Okay, okay." She wondered where to begin. "I'm not like the rest of my family. Not much anyway. I grew up in Orange County, down south. My dad is an investment banker, a damn good one. My mom was one of those pretty, perfect housewives. Don't get me wrong, I love my mom. She's great, both my parents are but…I was never going to be like her. Or my dad. My brother is. He's a slice off the old block." She snorted, but her tone was affectionate. "He's a Wall Street exec now, out in New York. But me? I'm a straight-up tom boy. Always have been. Hate the indoors, loathe office jobs. My uncle got me into surfing when I was a kid, and for awhile that was my whole life. The ocean, the waves, the water. I thought I might become a marine biologist or something, but then I went camping in college with a friend from Berkeley. It was at Yosemite. I fell in fucking love with that damn park. Obsessed. Bugged every Ranger I could find. That's when I knew what I wanted; to help the land, to protect and preserve it."

"A worthy life's work." Ven's voice was soft against her skin. "Your parents did not approve?"

"Oh, they were totally supportive. But you could feel the disappointment, you know? The confusion. Who is this woman, and did she really come from us?" She laughed lightly, but her throat was tight. Ven kissed her neck, she relaxed again. "Mostly I didn't let it bother me, but as I got older, and then I hit thirty, well…I felt it more. Their expectations, and my need to make them happy; at least in one area of my life. I met Josh. I knew in a heartbeat, he'd make them happy. He was perfect. Their idea of perfect," she amended. "Not mine. He was a banker, at dad's firm. The Sacramento branch, but still an up-and-comer. He was charming and sexy…"

e wA nice

She rolled her neck and Ven turned her in his arms, so that she was spread sideways over his lap. "Don't be shy."

She smiled at him. "I'm really not, you know. I've always been confident, easy about everything, especially sex. I liked having lovers, and I never wanted to settle down…"

"Until him?" Ven's tone was gruff.

Amber cupped his jaw. "It wasn't _him_ , sweetheart. It was my fucking biological clock." His brows furrowed and she laughed, tucking her forehead under his chin. "Anyway, it was subtle over the six months we dated, so subtle I didn't get what he was doing at first." Her voice trailed off and Ven shook her slightly.

"He started making me feel ashamed, about myself, how I dressed, my line of work… about wanting sex too much even. It was weird. He was always hinting there was something wrong with me, I wasn't feminine enough. I was too bold, too crass…too everything."

Ven drew back and his face was utterly confounded. "Too much sex?"

She giggled. "Human men don't have your stamina, sweetheart." _Or your equipment,_ she thought with a shiver of pleasure. They'd been having sex every day since coming to the cabin. More like every other hour. "He couldn't keep up with me. _My demands."_ She rolled her eyes.

"He sounds like an idiot." Ven's tone was fervent.

Amber laughed again. "You're not wrong. But he…got to me." She wanted to say again how stupid she felt for letting Josh in her head like that, but didn't, remembering Ven's warning. "I didn't even realize it, but he _did._ I became more hesitant, more 'shy'. He even had me nearly convinced to turn down this assignment when it was first offered to me almost a year ago. He said it was ridiculous, a woman coming to Homeland and working alone with Species. Too dangerous. _Too bold._ "

" _'What are you thinking, Am?'_ he said. _'You know you couldn't handle it. Just let it go to someone more qualified.'_ That finally bothered me, started me thinking." She shook her head. _It had been about damn time_. "One night not long after that conversation, we were getting ready to go out and he critized my clothes, not for the first time, wanting me to wear something else, something more demure. He pulled out a dress he'd bought me to wear, something more _suitable._ " Her hand tightened on Ven's chest. "The bastard actually thought I'd be pleased. And it hit me, all at once. This guy is a complete asshole. What the hell am I doing? I took the dress and threw it in his face and told him to get the hell out."

"How did he take it?"

"He slapped me, actually." Ven's growl took on a tone she hadn't heard since the terrifying day on the trail.

"Easy, big guy." She stroked his chest lightly. "That's when I knew I was right. I picked up my baseball bat and chased him out of the house. I thought he was going to piss himself." She grinned to see Ven eyeing her narrowly.

"It sounds like you handled him well, so why did it bother you so much to share that with me?"

"Because I _didn't_ handle it well, Ven. I was with him for over six damn months. I didn't want you to think I'm that kind of woman."

"What kind?"

"The kind that has all these psycho ex-boyfriends. I'm not, Ven, really. Josh was one bad apple. But he was a doozy."

"He has bothered you again." It wasn't really a question. His expression was tight with understanding. _Damn him and that Species' perceptiveness._

"Only once. At my house. Not long ago."

"He attacked you again?"

"Not really an attack. Well, okay, he did hit me again. Gave me a black eye."

Ven's whole body started to vibrate, Amber slid her arms around his neck. "It's fine." He growled in obvious disagreement, that low, dangerous sound that made her fine hairs prickle. "I mean, it's not. Of course, it's _not._ But once I got over the shock, I laid him out." She smiled, her hands reaching up to caress his scalp, something she knew made Ven hot. "Muaythai, you know. Ten years. Kickboxing," she said to his puzzled frown. "A kind of fighting form, martial art."

He calmed as her hands continued to stroke, but his eyes were still dangerous. "I will kill this Josh if I ever see him."

She gave a nervous laugh, knowing he was dead serious. "You won't, sweetheart. He lives in Sac. He only ever came up this way for me. After that last time, he ran away with his tail between his legs."

"Sounds like that's all he has between legs."

Amber laughed. "Not like you, huh?" She slipped her hand between them, going to the crotch of the jeans Ven sported often now, as he realized she enjoyed him in them. He hardened under her touch, his lips parting as his cock grew and lengthened to proportions that made her start to quake inside.

Amber leaned forward, sucking his lower lip into her mouth and nipping it, like he did to her. It had much the same effect, his eyes went black and hot.

"We should go to bed now." His voice brooked no argument, but she smiled, glancing over her shoulder at the fireplace, then back at him

"I like the rug." She looked up at him through dark eyelashes. They had sex there more often than any place except the bedroom. Though…the table was also a favorite and the shower….and the porch. Along with every available wall. Oh, and the river once. That had been a bit chilly, but… _memorable._

"I know." Ven's voice brought her back to the present as he rolled them off the couch in one easy movement, somehow landing them dead center of the thick rug. His hand fisted in her hair as he brought his mouth to hers, tasting her as he forced her to open to him with his tongue. She sighed in pleasure, running her hands down his back; that hard, flared expanse that rippled under her touch.

His hand slipped under her shirt. Ven had destroyed the only other bra she had with her, and though she had scolded him, she didn't really care since they were alone. He loved fondling her breasts at every opportunity and he knew all her triggers now. He caught a hardening nipple between thumb and forefinger, rolling it as he kissed her. Amber moaned as heat shot straight to her core. She responded by wrapping her legs around his waist, arching up to wantonly rub her center against the thick bulge in his jeans.

"Touch me," He growled, lifting his mouth a fraction to stare down at her, the flames from the fire reflected in all that blackness. She knew what he wanted and moved her hands to the front of his jeans. Her fingers trembled.

Even after having sex with Ven dozens of times, this got to her. The anticipation of touching him, of being filled by him…it made her insides go to a pool of liquid heat. His cock sprang into her fingers when she released him and his kiss grew wild as she squeezed that pulsing length.

Before she could blink, he had her flipped over on her stomach beneath him, her pants around her ankles as he spread her legs and covered her with that huge body.

She grabbed handfuls of the rug as he tested her readiness for him with a questing finger between her pussy lips, growling in satisfaction at finding her slick and hot. In the next heartbeat, he was inside her, hard and thrusting in violently urgent need. A need she more than shared. Amber pushed back against him like a wild thing.

His hips slammed into her ass, lifting her up with each delicious thurst of his cock inside her. She started to gasp and twist, the rough softness of the rug teasing her belly and breasts where her shirt rode up as they moved. Combined with the feel of Ven inside her, fucking her senseless, Amber lost it just as she heard his hoarse shout and the heat of his release filling her. The orgasm was incredible, bits of faux fur came apart in her hands as she writhed with it, every pulse of his semen inside of her bringing another tidal wave of intensity. Unable to cope, her body went limp and her eyes closed as Amber drowned in that delicious darkness.

When she came back to herself, Ven still lay above her, supporting his weight on his elbows so as not to crush her. He was gasping, their limbs a slick tangle of heat and sated pleasure. She shuddered in pure contentment. Then there was an ear-splitting crash and the sound of splintering wood and breaking glass.

Ven snapped upright instantly, but they were still locked together, his cock swollen fast inside of her. Amber let out a small gasp of pain. He cursed, and slipped a hand under her belly, lifting her with him as he straightened to his knees, sniffing warily, his whole body taut.

A nightmarish sound came from outside, somewhere between a howl and a scream, a sound that chilled her blood even as Amber's heart raced. Then came a voice, rough and male. Ven growled, low in his throat.

What the hell was out there? _And who?_


	4. Chapter 4

There was a muffled curse from outside, then another male's voice joined the first. With slow care, Ven was finally able to ease himself from inside Amber.

"Stay," he whispered, pushing his hand flat on the small of her back, forcing her flat to the rug again before stalking to the back door.

He threw it open to see a strange male with a tangle of wild tawny hair hunched over something on the porch. The Species turned his head, odd golden eyes, obviously feline, narrowing as he took in the sight of Ven. His lips drew back in a hiss.

Without a second thought, Ven launched himself into the air. After a beat, the feline sprang up to meet him.

"Shit! Ven…wait! Leo, cool it! Oh for fuck's _sake…_!" Torrent stepped from the shadows next to the porch, a cloth dripping water in his hands. Ven saw him and twisted mid-air, one of his feet catching the unknown feline in the gut. The male tumbled off the porch, but landed lightly on his feet.

"Do you always attack without provocation?" he snarled, glaring up at Vengeance.

Ven, who had landed almost as lightly, only on the porch, growled once before straightening. "My female is inside. _You_ are in _my_ territory. I know you can smell, feline, so don't talk to me about provocation."

"Ven, _stop._ This is Leo, he's a friend of mine. We take care of the animals out here together. We were going to tell you we were here, but um, from the sounds and smell you were…busy." Torrent gave a slow grin. "We thought interrupting was a bad idea."

"So was not announcing your presence."

"Point taken. Now can I get back to treating my girl here?" For the first time, Ven noticed the animal on the porch steps. Her smell had been masked by the feline Species, but now that he was more clear-headed, it was quite distinct. She was sick. Very sick. Infection, if he was any judge. A medium-sized cat, perhaps 70 pounds or so, it's light fur patterned with darker blotches. Ahh, this was the cheetah. His heart tightened with pity and Ven stepped back at once to allow Torrent to tend the poor creature.

The black-haired male rolled his eyes as he pushed past. "Dude, you're naked."

Ven glanced down. "Hmm, yeah. I was too preoccupied to worry about clothes."

The door opened. It was Amber, his jeans in hand. Her own clothes had been straightened and she had a small smile on her face. "I saw Torrent through the window. I figured it was safe to come out."

Ven took the jeans from her hand, stepping into them without haste. It probably wasn't polite to ogle him under such circumstances, but she did anyway. He gave her a stern look.

"I told you to stay."

"And I'm not a pet, sweetheart." Amber said mildly, stepping out onto the porch. "I don't heel or fetch either, in case you're wondering. And you are?" She addressed Leo, who averted his face instantly. She looked at Vengeance curiously, when Leo didn't answer her.

"His name is Leo. He's trying to keep from frightening you," Ven explained, rather grudgingly, she thought.

"Frightening me? Why would he frighten me?"

Slowly, Leo turned to face her. Amber sucked in a breath at the strangeness of his features; the rounded, golden eyes, the angular forehead, the indefinable air of pure _wildness,_ but she didn't lower her eyes or back away. "Hey, Leo. Why were you two making such a racket out here?"

Leo appeared incapable of speech. He stared at Amber as if she were some exotic new animal he'd never seen before. Torrent spoke up from where he was kneeling at the cheetah's head, squeezing the cloth to allow water to drip into her open mouth. "It wasn't us, it was her, Amber. We cornered her earlier tonight, between the two of us. She's been giving us the slip for days, even we can't run her down when she gets going. But she's too sick now to get away," he said sadly.

"Oh, the poor thing." Amber stepped forward, but instantly Leo moved to block her. In less than a heartbeat, Ven was there, growling, slamming his chest into the other's male body, forcing him back a pace.

"Quit!" Torrent hissed, causing the cheetah to flail her legs weakly. "Damnit, Ven. Leo is just protecting your female. You can't touch her," he said, not unkindly to Amber. "She is still very agitated and strong enough to lash out with teeth or claws. You could get hurt."

"Sorry," Amber whispered, tucking her arm into Vengeance's still taut one. "Thank you, Leo." She said pointedly, giving Ven a look. "I didn't know."

"I understand." The feline male's was quiet, but his lips twitched as he looked at Ven.

"Your human female is…interesting."

"And _mine."_ Ven gave a snarl for emphasis.

"That is clear." The feline sniffed the air once and clenched his hands, before turning back to Torrent. "We need to get our cat back to the sanctuary clinic. Is the jeep close?

"I left it by the river. The keys are in it."

"Good." Without another word the male loped off.

"He is a bit…different, isn't he?"

Torrent coughed once.

"Not different _bad,_ " Amber clarified with a frown. "Just different… _different."_

"Species like Leo prefer to be isolated, and they don't generally care for humans, Amber." Ven squeezed her arm once. "It's not…personal."

Torrent coughed again.

"Something stuck in your throat there, Torrent? Should I get you a glass of water?" Amber narrowed her eyes at the Species, wondering what he was hiding.

He grinned at her over his shoulder. "No, thank you. I'm good. Hey, Ven, would you mind giving us a hand taking hauling her back in? We don't like to use cages and if she freaks, it'll be hard for Leo to contain her by himself while I'm driving?"

Vengeance frowned. "How long will that take?"

"An hour or two. Maybe just a bit more. You'll be back before ten for sure…Breeze is over visiting Valiant's mate, Tammy. I'm sure they would come and stay with Amber if you're worried about her being alone."

"Oh for heaven's sake, I'm not a child. I can manage a couple hours without supervision."

"That may be so, but we are on the edge of the Wild Zone here. With Ven's smell marking this area, you are safe…so long as he is here to back it up. Without him, some might become… bold. Especially considering…" Torrent gave Ven a meaningful look.

"Considering what?"

And just like that Ven clamped his hands around her waist and swung her inside.

"Hey." She fisted her hand on his shoulder, frowning. "That was rude."

"Did you forget that you are in heat?" Amber flushed. She _had_ forgotten that tidbit, being away from the compound at Homeland made all those nit-picky rules seem so distant.

"Call Breeze." He commanded as he kicked the door closed.

"Fine, He-Man. You know, your muscles are sexy and all, but you need to stop throwing me around all the time, alrighty?" Amber put her hands on her hips as he set her down. Ven just gave her a bemused glance before starting to rummage around, looking around for something. His boots, no doubt. She sighed.

"Who's He-Man?" He asked, as Amber walked over to the opposite door, where Ven's shit kickers were set neatly next to the door.

"We'll get into your classical cartoon education some other time." Amber absently tossed the boots at him. Then she picked up her cell phone from the table and looked up Breeze's number, totally missing the grin on Ven's face as he started to tug his boots on.

"You like being my female, don't you, Amber?"

She looked up from the phone, startled. "What do you mean?"

He stomped into the boots, his dark eyes warm. "You will be a good mate, Amber."

"Mate?" She swallowed, her throat suddenly dry.

Ven frowned. "That is what you want, isn't it?"

"Ven," she hesitated. "I want you, absolutely. No question. But mates? For you guys that's even worse than married. It's forever with a capital F."

"Yes. That frightens you?" His eyes were narrowed, his massive arms folded over his still-bare chest.

"Not…exactly. It's just _fast,_ Ven. Way fast. I mean, don't get me wrong. My dad proposed to my mom after one week." She laughed. "And they've been married 45 years. I believe in anything when it comes to love…not that you said the L-word," she said hastily. Amber bent her head, letting the thick curtain of hair hide her burning cheeks, ( _Way to go_! She thought furiously, _foot in mouth much?_ ) "but let's just take it day by day for now, okay?"

"Amber?'

She started texting Breeze, her eyes darting to him between words, begging him to let it go…for now. "Why don't you give me your number so I can program it in?"

A long silence finally made her look up. "Ven? Your digits, please?"

He grabbed a shirt from the hook next to the back door, not putting it on, just shoving it under one arm, He wouldn't quite met her eyes. "I don't have one," he mumbled.

"Why the hell not? I know the NSO makes them available to all Species."

"I don't know how to use one." His chiseled cheeks were definitely the ones turning pink.

Amber bit her lip, holding back the smile that wanted to come. "Well, you can't be worse than Brass, I had to teach him to text. He still sucks at it. When he remembers that he has a phone at all," she amended.

Ven looked up, eyes narrowed. "Brass knows how to text?"

She tilted her head. "Sweetheart, I know it's wrong of me, but when you get that spark of jealousy in your eyes, I want to jump you so bad."

"Jump me? Is that a sexual reference?" His gaze glittered with interest.

Amber laughed. "I will demonstrate when you get back." She looked down at her phone as it buzzed. "Breeze says they'll be right over."

"Good, stay inside until they get here."

She shook her finger at him. "I warned you about those commands, mister. I don't do _stay._ "

"You will for me." He grabbed her finger and bit the pad lightly, sending a tendril of heat coiling straight between her legs. "I think you also do _beg_ for me later." Amber sucked in a breath at the rough promise in his voice. Ven smiled. "I'm not hearing any argument."

"Not about that one, no." She whispered, her heart racing. _Damn, he could turn her to mush with one damn word._

Ven slipped a big, warm hand under her shirt and around to the small of her back, pressing her up against him and kissing her hard. When he moved to let her go, she wrapped her arm around him again and impulsively lifted her phone. "Smile."

"Why?" He blinked as she showed him the picture, her with her head against his chest, and him frowning down at her.

"You look so fierce," she giggled.

"Why did you do that?" he asked curiously, tilting his head as she locked the picture to her home screen.

"It will remind me of you while you're gone." She said, a trifle embarrassed at admitting to being so needy. "You don't mind, do you?"

Ven brushed his lips over hers, and smiled into her eyes. "I don't mind, Amber. It makes me happy knowing you will miss me. I am taking my own memento, after all." He nuzzled her neck, inhaled deeply once, before turning and walking out the door.

It was then that she realized the shirt he had taken off the hook was not his, but hers. Amber grinned, suddenly feeling warm all the way down to her toes.

"What's the shirt for? Do you think our girl here needs a pillow?" Leo was eyeing him with amusement as they hefted the cat into the back of the jeep.

Vne glared at the feline as they settled in. His conversation with Amber had left him both pleased and unsettled. She was unconsciously already starting to act like a mate, taking care of him, soothing him…but she was also nervous. He would have to work to soothe her, to take it day by day, as she had said.

Leo gave a nod over his shoulder at Torrent and they started off. Ven put a hand on the cheetah's flank, his other hand tightening in the shirt he had taken from the peg. "It has her smell…Amber's," he said belatedly, staring down at the blue scrap of fabric as if it could solve the mysteries of females for him.

He expected the other male to laugh, but Leo only gave him a curious look, almost envious. "She does smell…intoxicating." he agreed.

Ven resisted the urge to growl, conscious of the heavy weight of the sick creature on his lap. "Do you _want_ me to hurt you, feline?

From the front seat, Torrent snorted. "Well, she does, Ven. God, are you so lovesick you didn't notice? It's like torture smelling such a female in heat and knowing she is untouchable."

"Just remember the _untouchable_ part," Ven snapped. "And of course, I know she's in heat. It's one of the reasons I was happy to accept Justice's offer to take her out here. Where we would have privacy." He gave Leo a pained look.

Leo laughed. "It's not my fault our girl here tried to claw her way into your cabin." Then his mirth faded. "I have no interest in your human anyway. Our own females sometimes find me to strange to look at. No human would ever want me. Her lack of fear puzzled me, that is all."

"Tammy's not afraid of you," Torrent pointed out as he drove.

"Tammy is mated to Valiant, she is not scared of _anything,"_ Leo snorted. "But I thought she was unusual, one of a kind, even. It appears perhaps not," he said in bemusement.

It took far longer than Torrent and Leo had planned to get the animal back to Torrent's tiny but well-equipped clinic. Sunset was coming fast, gold glinted through the pines. They bumped down long dirt tracks, avoided boulders that had shifted in the last storm and finally pulled up at a large, two-story cabin with a wrap-around porch.

"Clinic's in back," Torrent said as he helped them ease the cheetah out of the jeep.

Ven was fascinated as they set the cheetah gently on the metal table, looking around at the glass fronted cabinets and gleaming equipment everywhere. "You are a like a doctor for the animals."

Torrent tied back his long black hair, laughing. "Not quite. But I do enjoy taking care of them and healing seems to come naturally for me. I am taking online courses now and Justice is thinking about hiring a veterinarian for a year or two, so I can learn more."

Just as they got the creature strapped down so Torrent could give her a sedative, Leo's phone buzzed. He looked down and cursed. "Goddamnit. There's a bear heading into the Wild Zone. Grizzly, Valiant says."

Ven straightened, but Leo waved a hand. "Relax, it's nowhere near your cabin. But I gotta go help Valiant. We'll keep an eye on it and try to encourage it on its way before there's an incident. You'll be alright with the cat?" He directed this last at Torrent.

"If Ven can give me a hand for a bit?"

"I don't know. He might wither away if he goes more than an hour without his female." Leo grinned.

This time the growl slipped out even though he knew the feline was only teasing. The cheetah next to him began to flail in terror. Instinctively, Ven leaned his weight over her legs firmly, but gently, and put a soothing hand to her muzzle. "Easy there, girl. _Shh."_ The animal stilled at once, her glassy eyes focused on Ven until her body relaxed again and her eyelids closed.

Torrent and Leo exchanged a look, then the feline Species spoke up. "What'd you say, Vengeance? Can you hang out awhile?"

"Yes. Breeze and Tammy will be with Amber by now. I will stay and help." He stroked the flank of the limp cat, his hand still on her muzzle, patting gently.

Leo winked at Torrent and took off.

"So," Torrent said, snapping on a pair of gloves. "Let's get to this."

Amber decided to pick up the cabin after Ven had left, straightening the rug in front of the hearth with a reminiscent smile. "I wonder if this Slade guy would sell it to me," she muttered.

Just then her phone rang. It was Breeze.

"Yeah?"

"Hey, Amber." The Species sounded breathless, her voice higher pitched than normal. "Tammy freaking fell down the porch steps. Clumsy damn human. Valiant is going to kill me. I think she broke her ankle."

"What?" Even though Amber had never met Tammy before, she winced.

"Hey! Who you calling clumsy? And I'm sure it's not broken, you silly goose. Just twisted." The voice in the background sounded exasperated. "I don't need to go to the damn hospital! You're so dramatic, Bree."

"No, dramatic will be Valiant ripping my lungs out through my nostrils if he got back here and found out I hadn't taken you in." Breeeze's voice got louder as she turned back to the phone. "I gotta get her in to the Reservation clinic, Amber. You haven't met Valiant, but he's…scary."

Amber raised her eyebrows. A male that intimidated Breeze? Now, that _was_ scary. "Sure. I'm fine here, Ven was just being…"

"Male?" Breeze suggested with a half laugh. "I get it, but I'm also going to head out there as soon as I drop her off. It's not like I need another male ready to rip something out of me."

"Okay, but no rush."

Amber hung up, looking around the darkening cabin. Then blinked as the phone in her hand buzzed with an incoming text. It was Justice.

 _Have you made up your mind?_

Amber laughed. She'd made up her mind even before she'd seen all the zero's the NSO had attached to the proposal. It was too tempting to pass up. And the opportunity to spend more time with Ven? _Irresistible._

She already felt bad for being so hesitant with him earlier. She wasn't the least bit hesitant about her feelings for Ven, but everything seemed to be moving so fast.

Maybe that's what happened when it was right. After all like she'd told Ven, look at the example of her parents. And they were not exactly the most spontaneous of people. She laughed and caught her reflection in the darkening glass. Her dark hair spilled down her back in wild waves, highlighting her pink cheeks and the sparkle in her eyes…Wow, this Reservation air must really be the elixir of life. She was practically glowing….

No, that…that would be _love_ , you idiot. She straightened, her heart fluttering, as it hit her. She loved Ven, maybe she had since she crested that ridge and saw the picture-perfect picnic spread out on the grass. Or when she had seen him go down under all those fists in the woods and it almost felt like her heart was being ripped out. Or when he told her his story in the hospital bed and she _knew_ her heart was being ripped out.

There was nothing to be afraid of. Ven would never hurt her, never be disloyal, never try to make her into something she was not. He accepted her in a way no one ever had before, top to bottom and inside out.

Immediately deciding she needed to spend every second before the trip north with him, making up for being so silly earler, Amber realized that would mean a run home first. She looked around the lengthening shadows, the hills flushing rose outside. This would be the perfect opportunity. If she hurried, she could be home and back before Ven even missed her. But she needed a vehicle. ASAP.

Instead of texting, she called Justice back.

He sounded surprised, but not _too_ surprised to hear from her so quickly. "So, do you have an answer for me?"

"You know I do, and I'm pretty sure you know what that answer _is,_ too." She laughed and on the other end, Justice's chuckle joined her. "But first I have a favor to ask."


	5. Chapter 5

It took nearly an hour for Torrent to get the animal properly sedated and clean her wounds. Vengeance helped, mostly by soothing the animal until the drug took effect, and then fetching and carrying for Torrent.

The other Species made light of his skill, but Ven was damn impressed. So was Torrent.

"You're good at this, Vengeance. You have the touch."

"What do you mean?" Vengeance looked up as Torrent gave the cheetah another injection, this one of antibiotics.

"With animals. Most Species get antsy around anything sick or weak, but you're calm and steady. You would do well with me and Leo, working out here."

Ven's lip curled at the mention of the feline Species, then he relaxed. Looking down at the cat, still under his big hand. He remembered the way it had looked at him, in pain and terror, but when he had been able to bring that spark of trust into its eyes….

That had been wonderful.

"I would like that, but…"

"Reservation is not for you?" Torrent guessed. "Or maybe… not for your female?"

Ven shrugged, thinking of Amber's hesitation tonight. She cared for him, he knew it beyond a doubt. But would she ever agree to be his mate? He swallowed, stoking the thick fur of the creature on the metal table. He wouldn't give up on her, _he couldn't it._ It was like he had told her back in the forest; once she had reached for him, there was no going back. Not for him.

But for her….

He sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"Here, let's get our girl tucked in for the night." Torrent seemed to understand Ven's mood and pressed him no further. "Then I will take you back to your female."

Fifteen minutes later, they were on their way. Torrent gave him a sidelong glance as the dark shadows of trees flickered by. "I have to stop at the compound first." He tossed his phone at Ven, who caught it, looking startled. "Call Breeze, it'll make you feel better."

Ven frowned down at the gadget. "I don't know how to use it."

Torrent shook his head and held his hand out. "I've got her in my contacts, just… Well, _shit._ Damn things dead." He tossed it on the dash as the lights from the compound glowed ahead. "We'll find someone here with a cell so you can check on her while I get my supplies."

Ven nodded, looking out into the night. Torrent cleared his throat.

"You do that a lot when you are thinking of saying something, but choose not to, did you realize that?" Ven gave him a look over his shoulder, pleased when Torrent gave a start of surprise, then smiled sheepishly.

"I suppose I do."

"So… spit it out."

"The human…Amber, she cares for you. She beat up a Species for you, and the way she looks at you…." Torrent shook his head. "You are a lucky male. You should act like it."

"Why do you say this?" Ven's jaw was tight as he glared at the other Species.

"Because you seem full of doubt."

"No. Not me. _Her._ She said as much earlier."

"Tell me exactly what she said."

After a moment's hesitation, Ven did as they bumped along through the star-strewn night, the smell of pinon pines thick in the air.

After Ven went silent, Torrent seemed lost in thought. He slowed as they reached the outskirts of the compound, then stopped in front of the commissary. "I think you are making too much of this. She is human. They think differently than us. You probably just startled her, saying _mate_ out of the blue like that. Some humans get skittish at the thought of commitment, or love, even when they care deeply for another. I have seen this over and over again."

Ven snorted. "You are Species, you live in the Wild Zone. When was the last time you saw a human besides my Amber and Valiant's mate? What makes you the expert?"

"I watch lots of Netflix. Lots and lots, dude. _Friends._ _How I Met Your Mother_. You should try it." Torrent looked at him so solemnly, Ven had to laugh, the knot inside him easing.

Maybe his new friend was right. Give her the time she'd ask for. Go slow. _Patience._ Ven had to smile to himself.

He'd made himself wait for her physically before, now he'd just make himself wait for her emotionally. It wasn't so hard, at least this time, they'd be having lots of sex. Lots and lots.

He grinned at Torrent as he swung out of the jeep. "Have you ever watched Star Wars?"

Torrent was opening his mouth to answer, when his eyes shifted to something over Ven's shoulder. Ven turned to see a Species in the Reservation version of the NSO uniform, approaching the Jeep curiously.

"Are you Vengeance?"

Vengeance nodded. "I am."

"I have a message from Amber Keeley for you. She accepted Justice's proposal and went home to get some things. Justice offered her the use of one of the Jeeps and she said to tell you she would be back in a couple hours. That was almost two hours ago, so she should be any minute.

"What?" Ven's hand shot out, catching the smaller Species by the throat. "You let her leave?"

Instantly, Flame appeared from seemingly nowhere. "What's going on, Ven?"

"This idiot let my female leave Reservation alone."

"She's human, Ven. She's _allowed_ to leave. Justice even gave her the use of one of our vehicles."

"Not without an escort, she shouldn't be. Justice doesn't know… _damnit!"_ Ven flung the Species guard from him with a growl.

"Justice doesn't know what, Ven? Does this have something to do with the attack on her a few weeks ago?"

 _"What attack?"_ Ven's growl was rapidly becoming loud enough that they were drawing a crowd.

"She came into work with a black eye, Justice was observing a class and saw it, asked her what happened. She said some asshole who hated Species roughed her up a bit on one of those morning runs she likes so much. That's when he told her to start running at Homeland. He wanted a guard on her, but she made light of it, said it was no big deal. She's human and an independent contractor, Ven. He couldn't force her."

Ven stared, his mind whirling. Amber had said that Josh had hit her once, given her a black eye. _Had she lied to Justice?_ And why? Without knowing her reasons, or the full truth, he decided to let that go for now. The important thing was getting Amber back inside Reservation, where she would be safe.

"I don't know about that, but I do know that there is a man out there, an ex of hers. His name is Josh." He cursed himself for not knowing more about the man. "And he is dangerous."

Flame's face was curious. "She must not consider him much of a threat if she went out there alone, Ven."

"That is because Amber is a very strong female," he said with both pride and fear, "but she doesn't understand her own allure. Or that a determined male can find ways to overcome any female. I have to go to her now." Flame put a hand on his arm. "Dude, they won't let you out of here without a team, they don't let _any_ Species out there without a security detail. You know that."

Ven let out a hair-raising growl. "Then get one ready to go. I will give you fifteen minutes, then I'm going."

The sun was fully down, darkness descending like a heavy curtain as Amber pulled into her drive. Her ranch-style home lay quiet, too still, too lonely. It felt like it had been months since she had been home, instead of less than one week.

She sighed and grabbed her keys. In less than an hour or so, she'd be back at the cabin with Ven. She'd called Breeze. The Species had still been at the clinic with Tammy, sounding harried, but she'd relaxed when Amber said she'd spoken to Justice. The female had also said she'd put in a call to Torrent and Leo, so Ven would know where she was. But just in case, Amber had left a note on the table in the cabin and a message with the Reservation guard who had driven out to get her.

"I've got it bad," she muttered with a laugh. But she didn't want Ven to worry, not after what the poor guy had been through in his life.

Inside, she pulled her old duffel from the closet and threw it on her big four-poster bed with the hanging curtains. She started emptying drawers and quickly filled the duffel up. It didn't take long. Amber was a practical woman and she had lots of practice packing for camping trips as a Park Service Ranger, for both field service and her eventual contracting positions. Well, she was _mostly_ practical. _There has to be a way to convince Ven of the value of lingerie,_ she mused, as she tucked a wayward bit of purple lace back through the zipper and tossed the duffel on the couch.

 _Maybe a fashion/strip show._

Amber smiled as she headed back to the bedroom to grab a slicker from the closet. Walking back into the living room, she frowned when a knock came at the door. A frown that quickly became a scowl when she peeked through the curtains and saw who was outside. She debated ignoring him, but hiding in the house wasn't really her style. Besides, she was nearly ready to leave.

With a sigh, she yanked the door open. "Damnit, Josh, do I need to get a restraining order?"

His smiled was wide, if a trifle tight. "Always so dramatic, Amber. You know you're glad to see me."

"Nope. But my bat would be happy to get reacquainted if you try anything again." She indicated the Louisville slugger that leaned within inches of her head, just behind the door. With her kickboxing experience, she felt fairly confident she could handle Josh, but he was no lightweight, and the bat gave her some added confidence.

"That last time was an unfortunate accident, and you know it."

"You mean the time when you backhanded me after I told you I enjoyed working with the Species, and that you were wrong about them?"

It still disgusted and embarrassed her she had never suspected Josh's prejudice, but in truth he had never given the slightest indication of it, in private or in public. He said all the right words; how awful Mercile was, how barbaric their treatment of the New Species had been. That was until the NSO had offered _her_ a job. Then he changed his tune.

The last time she'd saw Josh, he'd waylaid her on her morning run. He'd apparently been to a posh fundraiser and spoken to several scientists, who while not tied to Mercile, had filled Josh's ears with a lot of supposed New Species characteristics. He'd been adamant she quit her job. When she had pointed out that they were not dating anymore, and that even _had_ they been, that what she did, or who she worked with was just none of his damn business, Josh had taken exception. Hence the 'accidental' backhand.

She felt bad for fibbing to Justice, but it had been a white lie, at least that's how she justified it to herself. After all, it _was_ because of Josh's intolerance for Species that they had fought and that he had hit her. Amber just hadn't been able to face the embarrassment of admitting her own poor judgement in men when the NSO leader had noticed her injury.

Now she leveled a glare at Josh, who was still smiling as if nothing was wrong. Amber stayed by the door, holding it wide. "I don't remember inviting you to come in."

"But you would have if you'd seen this." He waved a cut-crystal bottle at her, oozing that fake charm that made her skin crawl. How had she ever fell for his crap? There was no doubt Josh Coulson was a handsome man. Well-built, with dark blonde hair cut stylishly edgy, while still corporately responsible, aristocratic features softened by that dimple in one cheek that flashed as he kept smiling at her. But he did nothing except make her feel desperately lonesome for Vengeance.

She rolled her eyes as she recognized the label on the bottle. "That's not my favorite, you self-absorbed ass. It's yours. I hate that heavy gardenia-and-roses crap. I need you to go, Josh. Now. I've somewhere I need to be." She wagged the door back and forth for emphasis.

"What's the rush?" He glanced at the duffel on the couch and his nose wrinkled. He hated that duffel; called it ugly, worn out and too masculine. Frankly, Amber agreed with the ugly and worn out part, but his hatred for it had actually made her fond of the damn thing. Suddenly, Josh's expression cleared and he turned to Amber, this time with a knowing smirk. "Ahh, I get it. You've dumped the NSO gig and are headed out to a new project. I told you wouldn't be able to handle those animals. And I was right."

The smug satisfaction on his face would have made her ill, if she wasn't so damn mad she couldn't even form words.

"Did you of those freaks scare you?" He reached for her and Amber whirled away from the door, finding her voice.

"You're unbelievable, Josh. Now for the last time, get the hell out of my house!" Exasperated, she tossed the slicker in her hand on top of the duffel, dropping her phone in the process. It skittered across the hardwood floor, bumping up against Josh's well-polished shoe. He bent over to pick it up, purposely pressing the home button as he did so.

"It's password locked, you nosy son of a bitch, you can't get in. Just give me my phone!" She held out her hand, palm up, tapping her foot impatiently.

Josh wasn't looking at her. He was staring transfixed at her phone, the bluish light making his features harsh and eerily cold. Belatedly, Amber remembered the pic she'd taken of her and Ven. A foreboding chill ran down her back with light, skeletal fingers.

"This looks awfully cozy, Amber." Josh's words were soft, but she jumped as if he had shouted. His eyes never left the phone, gripping it so tightly she could see his knuckles going white. "I knew you were a slutty little cunt, but this…thing, did you fuck it?"

Anger at his crudeness had her ignoring the sudden stab of fear. "Don't call Vengeance a _thing,_ you piece of shit!"

Amber hadn't known Josh could move so fast, but suddenly he was right in her face, forcing her to bend back over the couch. "Answer me, bitch. Did you let one of those lab experiments fuck you?"

She'd never seen Josh like this. He looked half-crazy, his body vibrating with a rage so deep it frightened her badly. But she fought the fear. At heart, Josh was a bully. She shoved him away from her hard.

"Yes, I did," she snapped as she backed away, putting the couch between them. She knew it was stupid to antagonize him further, but the way he had referred to Ven had her angry enough, she couldn't see straight. "And believe me, he is the twice the man you are - in _every_ way."

Josh hurtled the bottle of perfume at her head. Amber ducked, spinning to watch in horrified fascination as it exploded against the wall behind her. The stench was immediate and overwhelming, like stepping into a hothouse full of rotting flowers. She gagged.

"You belong to me, Amber." Josh was panting, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth. She stared at him, starting to edge for the door, both for escape and to be closer to the bat.

"I'm not yours, Josh." She tried to keep her voice low, calm and free of fear or anger, but it was hard. "And I never was."

"Oh yes, you are." Hs look was full of loathing. "You're my goddamn fiancée."

"What?" Shock had her stopping short. "You never proposed and I sure as hell never said yes."

"I was going to, the night I gave you the dress. And you would have said yes, Amber. You should have…" she looked at him, honestly terrified now as he gave her a hollow smile. "If you were a _decent_ woman. But you're not. You never have been. There is something wrong with you. And everyone thinks we're getting married. Your dad even called me Monday. I confirmed the rumors for him." Amber gasped, her hand going to her mouth. Josh ignored her. "He was hurt that you hadn't told him yourself, Amber. Hurt, confused and disappointed. Like me right now. What am I supposed to do? My fiancée can't be run off with a goddamn animal. With Brian Keely's daughter as my wife, I could've made back president in five years…maybe less."

He dropped her phone, unmindful as it cracked against the floor, scrubbing his face with both hands. When he pulled them away, his hair stood up crazily. Josh turned slowly and her breath caught, hoping he was just going to leave, to walk out the door…

Josh stopped in the entryway. She bit her lip to hold back a whimper. When he turned around, the Louisville Slugger was in his hand. He reached behind him and pushed the door closed. The faint clink echoed in Amber's pounding head. Her eyes went wide.

"Josh, what are you doing?" she whispered.

"No one can know about you. You and that…. _that thing."_ He indicated the cracked phone on the floor, where Ven's face looked out, frowning. "I'd be ruined. _No one can ever know."_ His eyes were blank, utterly flat, expressionless blue as he stepped forward and swung.

She ducked, rolling under his swing and kicking out at his leg. He staggered, but caught the top of her head on the back swing. Amber saw a burst of stars. Darkness threatened to descend as Josh raised the bat again.

Neither of them noticed her phone starting to skitter across the floor, buzzing faintly over the screams, the caller ID blinking white and blue. It began flashing the name _Breeze_ as dark red flecks began to dot its' cracked surface.


	6. Chapter 6

"She won't pick up." Breeze stared at Vengeance, her face tight.

They were together at the front doors of the Reservation clinic. The female had stepped out from watching over Tammy, whose ankle actually was broken, to see what all the fuss was. He filled her in on his concerns and she'd called Amber at once. Three times. Nothing.

He was pissed at Breeze, pissed at everyone, even though he knew Amber leaving wasn't anyone's fault. _But Amber's._ He pushed the thought aside. "Something's wrong."

Breeze shook her head, even though the worry on her face belied the movement. "It's probably nothing, like Torrent's phone being dead and Leo being out of range, chasing that grizzly down, like you said. Things happen, Ven."

Flame closed his own phone. "A Nevada County Sherriff's deputy is on their way to her place. Five minutes ETA. We'll be ready to move out by then. The team is loading the Hummer as we speak—"

"We got incoming!" One of the guards yelled down at Flame. "Looks like one of our own vehicles, coming fast."

Ven shouldered Flame aside to leap up the stairway to the guard tower.

Rubbing his throat as he saw Vengeance emerge; Scuffle, the Reservation guard who had delivered Amber's message, pointed out the plume of dust, just visible outside the security floodlights.

"You won't need a team, Flame, that's her Jeep, coming back." He gave Ven a pained look. "Looks like she was fine after all."

Ven leaned forward, so far he was in real danger of tumbling of the thirty foot wall. He didn't care. It _was_ Amber, he could make out the dark braid against her white shirt. His heart gave a leap in his chest. Then he noticed how fast she was driving. Something _was_ wrong.

He went right down the stairs again, leaping to the ground at the halfway point, slamming into the ground and rolling to his feet. When the gates swung open to admit her Jeep, he was there before it fully stopped, yanking open the driver's side door.

She fell into his arms, breathing fast, reeking of fear and…godawful perfume. He winced, his eyes almost watering, but he gathered her up just the same.

Blood, too. He smelled Amber's blood. A howl tore from his throat.

"It's okay, Ven," she cupped his face in both of her trembling hands. "Most of the blood is his. He got a hit to the back of my head, but I was able to recover. I nailed him with a kick to the face. My second broken nose in less than a week." She gave a watery smile.

"It was Josh?" Ven was practically snarling as he kicked through the clinic doors, her starting to shake in his arms.

"Yes. I don't know how he knew I was even home. Sac is a two-hour drive away and he showed up after I'd been there less than twenty minutes." She blinked and Ven noticed with alarm how dull her eyes were. "He saw the pic of me and you on my phone and…I don't know, he was an asshole before, but this… It was like something had snapped inside of him. I think he was going to kill me, Ven." She looked up at him, her eyes wide and staring. "He was really going to _kill me."_

"She'd going into shock." Somehow, Breeze was still at his side, her worried gaze on Amber.

"I know," he snapped at her, then turned to the receptionist, a female Species with short golden hair who was eyeing him warily. "Who is on duty here?"

"It's the older Doctor Harris's rotation, but she's human."

"She's mine," he growled. "And you will get the doctor to see her now or I will go through every inch of this clinic and find him myself."

Breeze raised her eyebrows at the blonde. "Better do what he says, Dusty. By the way, she's also one of the NSO's contractors, hired personally by Justice North. You might want to rethink the attitude."

With an irritated sigh, the blonde picked up the phone, her lips curling in a sneer as she looked at Amber.

"Dusty has a thing about humans, Amber. It's not you, it's all of you, understand?"

Amber didn't return the Species' smile, she just nodded slowly, as if her head was so heavy she could barely move. Then her eyes rolled up and her head fell back.

Ven's howl was so loud this time, the clinic doors behind him shook on their frames, one of them cracking clean in two.

"It's really not serious, Vengeance. You need to calm down."

"Not serious?" The rumble of a growl hurt Amber's aching head, even as her lips tried to curve at that sound.

 _Where the hell was she?_

"She has a bruise on her brain, that is what a concussion is, is it not? That bastard made her brain _bleed,_ Breeze. I want to make him bleed, all over. From every pore of his skin!"

A heavy sigh. "I can't argue with that logic, but I can say, she needs you _here,_ not chasing down some human on the outside and getting yourself arrested by humans, and targeted by the NSO, Ven. I know the panel has cleared you, but I doubt they would look kindly if you decided to go rogue on this human's ass."

The mention of the panel had Amber's gut tightening. Her eyelids fluttered. The stab of light, like a million tiny knives slicing through her eyeballs, forced her to close them immediately. But she'd managed to see Breeze sprawled out in a chair and Ven, agitated and huge, pacing in front of her.

"He must be _dealt_ with."

"And he will, Ven. He will. One way or the other. But the Sherriff's office found nothing that gave them reasonable cause to enter her property when they got there, you heard what Flame said. No vehicles in the driveway, the place was dark, no signs of a struggle from the outside. Maybe that is for the best, actually. Our people can now be the first on scene. If she gives us permission, of course."

"She will." Ven said. With an effort, Amber forced her eyes open again, pushing aside the flare of pain.

"Yes, I will. I do. But I want to be there." Both Species' heads whirled at the sound of Amber's voice. Ven was at her side in one quick pounce, but when he reached for her hand, it was with slow care. His other hand gently cupped her cheek.

"You are awake."

"I am." She smiled and gave his fingers a squeeze. Then blinked at the sheer relief in his eyes. "How long have I been out?"

"About twelve hours." Breeze hadn't left her seat, but her fingers were tight on the chair arms, her smile nearly as relieved at Ven's. "Not from the concussion though, it really _wasn't_ that serious." The female Species stressed, her eyes flickering to Ven's with the sound of well-worn exasperation. Amber wondered how many times she'd repeated the phrase in the past twelve hours, but decided asking was probably a very bad idea. "The doctor put you out to help deal with the shock, they were worried at first about neurological damage."

"And?" Amber looked at Ven in alarm, but his dark eyes were warm with assurance, even though she could see sparks of rage there.

"You're fine. They've done scans. Many. All clear. The doctor will have to do some other tests to be absolutely sure, but you're going to fine, Amber." His forceful tone indicated she had clearly had no choice _but_ to be fine. She smiled.

"Alrighty then. I'm guess I'm fine."

She was back at the cabin by nightfall, feeling much better. Almost back to normal, except for the sore spot at the back of her neck and a certain tiredness that seemed to linger in every bone. Tucked in Ven's arms, Amber listened to him growl the whole drive back at poor Torrent to slow down every other minute, even though he probably doing less than ten miles an hour.

Doctor Harris had cleared her to leave, only advising strongly that she take it easy and report any dizziness or excessive sleepiness. She hadn't needed stitches as the actual wound was close to her hairline. The doctor had been able to shave a thin section of hair away and use surgical glue instead.

"With your mate watching over my shoulder the entire time, warning me if I took one more hair than absolutely necessary he would shave me bald," Doctor Harris had said, giving Ven an irritated look.

Amber hadn't corrected him on the mate line, but Vengeance had.

"She's not my mate… _yet."_ There had been a whole world of promise in that one word, but he had said nothing further on the subject. In fact, Vengeance had talked to her very little the entire day at the hospital.

 _Too little._

As soon as the cabin door closed on Torrent, Amber touched Ven's jaw, feeling how tightly it was clenched, how tightly his whole body was held. Every muscle rigid, his chest like stone against her, his shoulders tight and bunching. "Are you angry with me, Ven?"

He didn't look at her. "You need a bath," he said, as if she hadn't even spoken.

Without another word, he carried her upstairs. Amber's belly was drawing into tight little knots, but she refused to let him bottle this up. When he set her on the bed, as gently as if she was made of spun glass, she'd had enough.

"Ven. You're angry. _Talk to me."_

She could hear his teeth grinding together as he pulled back. But like she had once before she threw both arms around his neck. "You're not getting away from me, sweetheart. You're pissed, and not just at Josh."

"Don't say that fucker's name around me, every time I hear it, I want…need…" His eyes still wouldn't focus on hers.

She nodded, as if she understood what he needed, though she had a feeling she really _didn't._ Amber was furious and sickened by Josh's behavior and she wanted to see him punished, of that there was no doubt. But she suspected Vengeance's plans went a bit further. She didn't want to think about Josh though.

"Okay, let's leave him out of it. How are you feeling about _me_ right now?"

Finally, his eyes locked with hers. She shivered at the inky, impenetrable blackness of them. There was no way she could detect the emotion behind that stare, but whatever it was it went clean to the bone.

"You left me."

His words left her as icy cold as the hollowness of his tone. "I did _not._ I only left so I could spend _more_ time with you, Ven. I wanted to make sure—"

"No. You wanted me to talk; I. Am. Talking. Now. You just… _hush."_ His gaze was fierce.

Speechless, she stared at him, letting her hands fall from his neck. He took them in his, without looking down, turning them over to rub his rough thumbs across her palms. Little tingles of pleasure melted some of the ice from her spine. He was angry, very angry, but he hadn't stopped caring for her. His touch was his way of letting her know that.

"You knew he was out there. You _knew,_ Amber and you went anyway."

She opened her mouth, but he shot her a look that had her closing it instantly.

"You didn't think about the danger you were in, you dismissed it. Because you think you can handle anything. Always. And maybe you can. You handled me in the forest. You handled Brass. And you _did_ handle Josh, you got away." His hands tightened on hers enough to make her gasp. Ven softened his grip at once, rubbing them again, gentle and rough, all at the same time. "I know this. But you can't handle everything, Amber. Not if we…if this between us has a chance in hell. I _need_ to protect you, it's in my blood, my fucking DNA, Amber. And you just left, without a thought for me. He could have killed you. What do you think will happen to _me_ if I lose you?"

Tears stung her eyes and she pulled her hands from his to cup his face. _"Ven._ I….I _can_ talk now, right?" He shrugged, once again not looking at her. There was a tic going in and out in his jaw. She rubbed over it with one thumb, her insides twisted painfully.

It had taken a lot for him to say those words to her, and she knew it. She had been colossally stupid. Josh was right about one thing, she _was_ far too independent about some things. She had never leaned on any man other than her father, and while for some of the men she'd dated that was okay - and even if it wasn't, she hadn't really let it bother her one way or the other -but with Ven, that kind of independence was definitely not going to be okay. It wasn't how Species were built and she knew it.

Vengeance had been fighting himself for her from day one, while at the same time, he'd accepted every bit of her without question.

But she hadn't really considered who _he_ was, and exactly what responsibility that put in her hands if she really loved him.

Amber could have kicked herself for the casual cruelty. "I'm so sorry, Ven. You're right, I didn't think…Honestly, sweetheart, I felt so guilty over—"

"Guilty? Why?" His words were sharp, his eyes on hers again.

It was her turn to look away, but Ven reached out and tilted her face back to his. "Amber?"

She sighed. "Over freaking out when you said 'mate' earlier that night." Her eyes stared into his widening ones. "It just seemed so fast, and I was just….stupid. I was stupid."

He growled. "I have warned you about talking like that." Then his gaze softened. "But in this case…"

She dropped her hands to squeeze his shoulders. "Sure, 'in this case'!" Amber gave a shaky laugh, then sobered, wanting to get the words out before she lost her nerve.

Her hands drifted down, running over his warm, hard chest. She watched them raise and lower with every breath he took, so she could avoid looking at his face. "You're it for me, Vengeance. Plan and simple." Under her hands, his heartbeat seemed to pick up. "Almost as soon as you left the cabin, I realized that. All those fears about moving too fast, taking it slow…that's okay, usually. Hell, it's even smart with most people and relationships. But with you….this is _right,_ Vengeance. Sometimes you have to throw out reason and look with your heart. My heart knows you. I think it did the first time I saw you."

Silence. Complete and utter silence. Amber chanced a peek at Vengeance's face, but it was still and smooth. He barely seemed to be breathing, despite the racing heart under her fingertips.

"Does this mean you will do as I say now?" He said slowly.

She frowned, not expecting him to take this tact. "Well, Ven, I…" That's when she saw his lips twitch. Her eyes narrowed. "I pour my guts out and now you're teasing me? You little…"

"I thought you needed it. And little?" He snorted. "Exactly what part of me could you call _little?_ "

"Hmmm, well…" She pretended to think it over, looking him up and down. He raised his eyebrows at her, waiting. "I've got it." Sliding her fingers over his skin, she lightly pinched his nipple, thrilled to hear a low gasp that had desire streaking through her like a comet on fire. "There, the one part of you that is even smaller than mine." She grinned, moving her fingers across his chest. "Two parts, actual—" His hand covered hers before she could reach her target. His face had gone abruptly stern.

"Enough of talking…and anything else. You need a bath, Amber." He jumped from the bed, stalking to the bathroom. A little stiffly, she noted. The thought of him having gone hard made her mouth water.

"I need you," she said, meaning every word. After everything that had happened in the last day, the ache for him was more than physical. It was a hunger that filled every part of her. And only he could fill it.

Vengeance stopped mid-stride. He didn't turn, his voice a raspy growl. "Don't, Amber. The doctor said nothing strenuous for at least 24 hours…"

"It doesn't have to be strenuous," she whispered.

Ven leaned forward at her words, grabbing the sides of the doorframe in his big hands, the muscles in that gorgeous, golden brown back flaring wide as his fingers tightened, obviously struggling with himself. His powerful shoulders rolled, making her mouth dry, but other places very, very wet. Amber pressed her legs together and bit back a moan. She needed to feel that body under her hands, she—

She heard wood splinter before he let go, cursing. Without a word, Ven disappeared into the bathroom. There was the sound of water splashing into the bathtub seconds later, but Ven didn't come back out for at least ten minutes, the time she knew it took to fill the huge tub. When he did emerge, his face was so grim, she didn't dare say a word. At least not until he had plucked her off the bed and was stripping her in the bathroom, determinedly not looking at any part of her that he was baring.

"Ven."

 _"Don't."_ He picked her up and swung her gently around, lowering her into the lusciously warm, bubble-filled water. It smelled like cinnamon and vanilla, her favorite bodywash. She inhaled deeply, lifting her braid out of the way and letting her sore head rest on the thick softness of the towel he had folded carefully and laid on the back rim of the big claw-footed tub.

"Don't what? How do you know what I was going to ask?"

"I can smell your arousal, even now. Amber. I know how badly you want me, and believe me, I want you just as much. _More."_ He was sitting gingerly on the closed toilet, watching her with a pained expression. "But we can't. I can't. Don't torture me further by begging."

"I thought you wanted me to beg." She spoke softly, knowing she was being evil, but she couldn't help it. Her fingers curled on the cool edges of the tub, desperate to touch the warm satin of his skin, to taste his mouth on hers and so much more. Her fingers tightened until her knuckles ached.

"God, Amber! That isn't fucking _fair."_ He shot to his feet. The evidence of her 'torture' was blatant in the state of his jeans. She could actually see the tip of him sticking out of the waistband of the distended fabric. Her tongue touched her lips as she fixated on that tempting sight. "You're still too fragile for sharing sex." Ven's words ended on a groan as he saw where her eyes had focused.

 _"Please?"_ She tore her gaze from his cock with an effort.

His eyes narrowed, his voice harsh. "I. Won't. Touch. You."

Her lower lip trembled at the finality in his tone. She bit it hard as the crushing wave of disappointment hit her. Ven's hands tightened on the edge of the tub as he knelt down clumsily, his voice softening. "Amber, don't do this to me. I _can't_ touch you, I want to believe I could be gentle, but in the state I'm in…. No. I won't risk it. But…" he swallowed hard, his expression suddenly intent, "you can touch yourself. And I can watch…and touch myself."

Her heart stuttered, almost coming to a stop as she stared at him. Just above the bubbles, her nipples had drawn tight at his words. _Tight and painful._ The idea was tempting, not nearly as good as sex with Ven would be, but still…

"Do it, Amber," his whisper was low, rough, reminding her his need was at least as great as hers. She could feel the vibrations through the thickening air between them. Everything seem to slow down, becoming hotter, wetter. Her toes curled over the edge of the tub, sending water lapping over her breasts, making her lips part on a gasp. Vengeance's dark gaze ran over her like a brand, scorching every inch of her exposed skin. Breathless, she lifted one hand from the water.

His eyes tracked the movement with the intensity of a predator focused on its next prey, but when she hesitated, his eyes flickered to her face.

"I want to see you, Ven. All of you."

Lunging to his feet, Ven stripped out of the jeans with an audible moan of relief. His cock was swollen to proportions that had her eyes widening, even as her pussy tightened and throbbed. She started to tremble, the desire to have him inside of her was so great. "Ven, I…"

"Shhh," His fingers circled his shaft almost lazily, his voice like rough velvet, soothing and stimulating, all at the same time. "Stick with the plan, Amber. _Touch yourself for me."_ He leaned back against the wall, a towering, bronzed god, looking down at her with such heat she could barely breathe in the heavy air.

She nodded, and slowly let her fingertips circle one nipple. The accompanying jolt of pleasure was so intense, Amber cried out. Water sloshed onto the rug as she arched. Ven growled in that way that made her want to bite down on something to kept from screaming while he fucked her hard.

Through slitted eyes, she watched him, turning slightly to one side, both to take pressure off the tender spot in her neck and to see him better. Pre-cum glistened on thick mushroom head of his shaft, it oozed from his tip and he used his thumb to slick it round and round. She mimicked his movements on both nipples this time, the pads of her wet thumbs driving her crazy as she imagined Ven's hands on her. She pinched them hard and heard his rough moan.

"More, Amber. Faster. You're so beautiful, all slick and wet and glistening. Let me see you, too. _All of you."_ He tossed her words back at her like a challenge…and she accepted.

Lifting her legs out of the water, Amber let her heels fall to hang over either side of the tub. Her hips almost floated on the water's surface now. She skimmed a hand over her belly and lower. Tracing the seam of her pussy with one fingertip, she thought about his tongue while staring at his mouth. His thoughts seemed to parallel hers, because when she focused through the hazy steam, Ven was licking his lips, his hand on his engorged cock moving faster and faster now. She spread her pussy lips, and the growl that tore through the room should have been frightening. But Amber wasn't frightened. She felt simultaneously powerful and incredibly exposed, but it was for _him._ For both of them.

Her fingers found their rhythm, stroking her clit; little teasing circles and darting passes at the entrance of her pussy, becoming deeper every time. She watched Ven start thrusting hard into his hand, the surge of those lean hips making her breath come shallow and quick. She was close, he was closer. Her strokes become harder, more forceful and quick. So did his.

Her tummy fluttered as Ven's voice rumbled out, ragged, his words falling on top of one another as he started to gasp. "Damnit, Amber, I can't…you're too.."

He came hard, in great spurts and her hips arched up in response, her body remembering and craving the feel of that liquid heat filling her. Amber cried out in pure need, so close and unable to get over that line. She twisted, sinking two fingers deep inside, feeling her muscles tighten. So close, so very, very…

Then his hand was covering hers, his finger slipping inside her pussy to join hers. She screamed at the sudden rush of heat and friction, her body snapping taut. The feel of his flesh stretching her was all it took. She came hard, curling onto her side, the ceramic of the tub hard against her cheek, but she didn't notice. There was only the obliterating rush of pleasure, her muscles seizing up as the orgasm took over her, leaving her limp in its wake.

She was barely conscious as Ven lifted her from the cooling water. He patted her down with towels so gently. But each brush of the thick cotton was like a spitting live wire against the rawness of her nerves, sending aftershocks bursting all through her body.

When he got her into the bed, both of them naked and him a firm, raging furnace at her back, Amber was blissfully, bonelessly sated. She fell headlong into sleep, almost too tired to smile. Until Vengeance's warm breath carried soft words into the shell of her ear just before she drifted off.

"I love you, Amber. And I'll never, ever stop."


	7. Chapter 7

"Tell me. Does it bother you to be around Amber?"

Brass choked on his extra rare roast beef sandwich. He took a slow drink of water, looking over at Vengeance.

Brass had come outside to eat as it was a particularly beautiful day at Homeland. He'd heard Ven and Amber were coming back from Reservation yesterday. Actually, he'd watched them exit the helicopter, albeit from afar, late last night. Wanting to make certain with his own eyes Amber was safe.

But he hadn't expected this—Ven plopping into the chair opposite him and asking him a question like—

"What the fuck kind of question is that, anyway?"

"An important one. Answer it." Ven looked serious as a heart attack. _Damn._ Brass supposed he owed him the truth.

He took a breath, then let it out, looking out over the sun-spangled grounds. "No, Ven. At first, it did. _Yeah._ Missed opportunities and all that. I really liked her. I still do…." There was a short growl from Ven, Brass turned his head, lifting an eyebrow.

"Sorry," Ven murmured. "Continue, but…be careful."

Brass laughed softly. "I understand. I'd feel the same if she were mine. But you need to understand, she's _not_ mine. I care about her as a friend. I always will. And respect her as _your_ female, Vengeance. When you two came back from Reservation yesterday….she's in love with you, man. There's no doubt. She fucking glows with it." He blinked at the sudden start from Vengeance, a smile forming on his face. "Yeah, I saw you come in. But don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. Or that you're not stupid with it yourself."

"Love is not stupid." Ven growled, but then he sighed. "And you are right. I love Amber."

Brass nodded, picking up his sandwich again. "So why have I not seen you rushing North for mating papers and one of those human marriage licenses?"

It was Ven's turn to look away. For a long moment, he said nothing. Brass waited him out, finishing his meal.

Finally, when the lunchroom was beginning to clear, everyone filing past them, more than one curious look aimed their way, Ven spoke up again.

"She calls me 'sweetheart' you know. I don't even think she realizes it." He looked bemused, then turned serious in the space of a heartbeat. "Amber talked to me of her last 'boyfriend'….is that not a stupid word? _Boyfriend?"_ He spat the word as if it tasted foul in his mouth. "What male would allow themselves to be insulted twofold; being called both a boy and a mere _friend_ by one's potential mate?"

Brass had to laugh. "Their mating is not like ours, man." Then his face darkened. "Is that the one Flame said hurt her?"

"Yes." Ven's face tightened, but not with the rage Brass has expected. There were sparks of it, deep in those black eyes, but Ven mostly looked…troubled.

"Amber, she's the real deal, Ven. She _gets_ us. Whatever is in her past, is past. If you ask her to be your mate, she's going to jump. You gotta know that."

"You'd be surprised." Ven let out a rueful laugh of his own. "But that is not what I am concerned about…this boyfriend of hers. He was a banker…a man who worked in an important office."

"So? She left him, right? And after what he did, why the fuck do you give a damn about what he is, Ven?" _Except to find him and put him in the ground._ Brass growled. Ven ignored him, obviously refusing to be distracted. Though by the clench of his jaw, it didn't look easy.

"Yes, but her father…he has position in their world, too. Amber... sheeis used to men who have a _position,_ Brass, power…education…purpose. What can I offer her?"

"What she wants, you idiot. _You."_

Ven waved an impatient hand. "You are a loyal friend, Brass, but you misunderstand. Amber is choosing me over them, over that life. _I get that._ I am not interested in changing who I am. I am New Species, not human, and glad of it… _except_ … I want to be the best male I can be, for _her."_ Ven watched the thinning crowd moving past them and shifted in his seat. "I have no real place here since I had to leave the Task Force. I am tolerated, shunted aside. I must change that before I ask her. You see?"

Brass nodded, as he leaned forward, suddenly all sympathetic understanding. "That sounds great, Ven. Did you have something in mind?"

"Actually, yes." Ven's smile gleamed. "It has to do with this secret project of Justice's."

There was a puzzled look on Brass's face. "What? The land purchase? I know he told you because of the offer to Amber, but what—"

Ven chuckled. "I want to talk to him tomorrow. Can you set it up? I have an idea. A place for me and Amber _both_ in the NSO."

"Sure. Consider it done." Brass got to his feet to throw his trash away, but stopped short when Ven threw a hand out, catching his arm.

"There is one more favor I have to ask."

"Shoot."

"You know we're taking Amber back to her house today, to pick up all the things she needs for the trip north, right?"

Brass nodded. He also knew a small team had already scouted her house after the incident and that Tiger was working with the local sheriff to find this asshole Joshua Coulson, but so far nothing. The guy hadn't returned to work. He'd dropped off the radar entirely.

"I would appreciate it if you were part of the security detail."

Brass froze, staring at Ven in shock. "Absolutely. But, Ven…why would—"

The other Species got to his feet, his look dark and shuttered. "Because, while I know _all_ Species will protect her with their lives merely because she is mine, you will go even further. You won't hesitate to kill that bastard or anyone else who goes after her, orders or _not._ Am I right?"

"You are." Brass's voice was rough.

Ven nodded decisively. "We're leaving at 2. The back gate." He slapped Brass's shoulder. A comradely gesture… if it hadn't nearly dislocated his shoulder. Ven's way of letting him know, despite the brotherly convo, just where they stood when it came to Amber.

Brass watched the big, bald-headed Species stalk away…and rubbed his tingling arm with a smile.

If Amber was surprised to see Brass getting into the van with them, she didn't show it.

"Glad to see the tape is gone." She indicated his nose with a sheepish grin.

He winked back. "Good thing we heal quick."

"Wish I was better at that. Then _someone_ might have let me go home sooner."

Ven frowned, reaching across to test Amber's seat belt as if he didn't trust it. "You were still having headaches until three days ago."

She rolled her eyes and lightly batted his hand away, though Brass couldn't mistake the soft, adoring light that flashed in her eyes. "I rubbed my temples _once,_ and you were looking up the symptoms of a migraine online, quizzing me like Dr. Oz."

Ven shifted back into his own seat, though he kept his hip firmly against Amber, who sat on the inside. Brass also noticed the male held the tail of her braid loosely in his fingers, stroking it absentmindedly.

 _Holy crap, maybe he should be glad he'd lost out on Amber, mating sure as hell made you into one hell of a sap._

"It's my job to take care of you." Ven's voice lowered to a possessive growl. Instantly, Amber relented, sliding up against him and tucking her arm through his, that adoring look in full force as she smiled up at him.

 _And maybe there was nothing wrong with being a fucking sap if it made a female look at you like that._

Suddenly, Brass realized he wasn't jealous of Ven anymore for having Amber, he was actually happy for his friend. He was just jealous of that bond, sappy, mushy looks and all.

 _Someday it'll be me,_ he promised himself.

"It's a hard, thankless job, huh?" Amber teased Ven as the miles bumped by.

Ven's lips twitched. "It has its rewards."

Flame let out a snort from across the passenger's seat. "Alright you two, can it. We're getting close."

Jinx, who was driving, just shook his head. "Mates. _Spare me."_

He picked up the radio to call back to Homeland. Even though they were on GPS—all Homeland and Reservation vehicles carried the trackers now—they were being cautious and staying in contact every step of the way. The sheriff and three of his officers were to meet them at Amber's place.

Personally, Brass thought that was overkill. Three New Species should be plenty to handle one asshole human who hadn't even been able to defeat a lone female, but given all his people had been through, he supposed overkill was best.

With Brass, Flame and Jinx outside, Amber pulled Vengeance to the door, surprised at how anxious she was to see inside and make sure everything was okay. On that night Josh had ran out the door without a backward glance, shrieking about his goddamn nose, but she had been so shaken, she couldn't even remember if she had locked the door.

Flame had assured her she had, that the police hadn't entered and that when he had personally led the other team here a few days ago, that nothing appeared _overtly_ damaged. But his nose had wrinkled painfully as he said it, and no matter how she drilled him he would say nothing more.

It made her nervous. She yanked on Ven's arm again.

"I don't understand why the sheriff isn't here yet," he frowned, looking around her neatly manicured lawn as if expecting cops to pop out of the shrubbery. She could smell fresh-cut grass, telling her the laws service had been here recently.

She shrugged, letting go of him as she stepped forward to unlock the door. "They probably just got another call, Ven. Nevada County is huge, you know."

"They should have called us then."

"Maybe it's serious. Cops get pretty damn busy, you know. Humans aren't always predictable."

He snorted, then gave a sharp, menacing growl when he saw the open door in front of her. Amber froze in her tracks, long enough for him to catch her before she could step inside.

Vengeance's hands circled her hips and set her behind him before she could blink. "Me _first."_

"Or course." She shook her head and followed him over the threshold.

He stopped two steps into the entryway, shuddering.

"What, what is it? Is it horrible? Did that bastard do something to my stuff?" Nervously, Amber tried to peek over Ven's arm, jumping up and down on her tiptoes, waving a hand in front of her face at the eye-watering scent of the perfume Josh had smashed.

The huge body in front of her shook violently. Once. And again. There was a loud, barking sound that nearly made her eardrums rattle. Startled, she threw her arms around him. "Ven? Are you okay?"

He turned to her, his eyes alarmingly watery and bloodshot. He jerked in her arms and made that barking noise again. Then she realized, Ven was simply having the world's worst sneezing fit.

"Oh my god," she giggled, pulling him through the living room and into her room, where she slammed the door on the reeking scent. Amber crossed over the braided rug on the floor to yank open a window and flip on her bedside fan.

"Better?" She asked, a bit more worriedly when she saw his eyes were streaming helplessly.

He nodded, but disappeared into the bathroom, apparently unable to speak. She heard water running, a few more of those earsplitting sneezes, then Ven emerged, a towel in his hand, wiping his face.

"That," he wheezed. "Was _excruciating."_

Amber couldn't help it, she giggled again.

"What?" He tossed the hand towel on her dresser, stalking toward her, his eyes narrowed at her amusement.

She backed away, holding her stomach. "Big, tough New Species, gets tackled by five huge guys, takes a knock out dart strong enough to bring down a bull elephant…and not so much as a whimper or a whine. But one bottle of expensive French toilet water and you're reduced to tears." Unable to help herself, Amber collapsed onto the bed, gasping with laughter.

"You know damn well I am not crying, and you have to admit that stuff was lethal." Ven leaned over her, his eyes still red-rimmed, but definitely a spark there at the humor of the situation…for all of two seconds. "Wait.. what did you mean… _toilet water?"_

His expression had turned to dawning horror, making Amber howl louder, her own eyes starting to leak as she laughed so hard it hurt. When she could finally breathe again, she pulled him on top of her. "It's not really from a _toilet,_ Ven."

"Could have fooled me," he muttered against her neck, snuzzling in, bracing himself with his arms as he inhaled her scent, obviously trying to clear the burn from his nose. She shivered, but he pulled back with a frown, his voice flat. "I can't smell you. Goddamn it, Amber, I can't smell you at _all."_

Amber felt the sudden tension that rippled through him and remembered one of the first things she had been taught about Species; how their sense of smell, especially for the ones with canine DNA—like Ven— was as important than their sense of sight. More, really.

He must feel damn near blind without it.

"Easy, sweetheart. It's okay. It will go away." She stroked his back, over and over, until she noticed his eyes, no longer red, were staring down at her. Not with rage, or humor this time, but with an intent look she knew intimately.

"Did you just realize you have me alone in my bedroom? At your mercy?" Her tone started out teasing but finished in a whisper. His irises were going that pure inky black that made her stomach do little expectant leaps inside.

 _The things he had done to her when his eyes looked like that…_

"Anytime you are under me, you are at my mercy, Amber."

That was _it_ , he was doing the growly thing again. When Vengeance did the growly thing, her brain went to _mush,_ and everything below her waist went hot and liquid.

"But now isn't the time for sharing sex." His voice was purposely harsh, a dead clue he was having a hard time controlling himself. She could make it harder.

"Isn't it?" Amber sighed and wrapped her legs around his waist. "Ven, don't you think we could…" She rubbed up against him, unsurprised, but damn pleased to find him hard and ready. God, he felt so good against her. _So thick_. Her pussy tightened and pulsed. She undulated her hips, whimpered softly as pleasure shot down her spine in fiery burst. _"Please,_ sweetheart."

He groaned deep in his throat, but reached back to unwind her legs from him, getting determinedly to his feet.

 _"No,_ Amber. We have to—"

With a suddenness that was frightening, he snapped to his full height, huge and menacing above her, his eyes going wide, his body twitching oddly.

"Ven!" Amber sat up in alarm, wondering if this was some kind of delayed reaction to the perfume when she was knocked flat as Ven fell, crashing into her.

All 260 pounds, 6 feet, 5 inches of him.

 _She couldn't breathe, couldn't move, couldn't even beat her fists on his shoulders to get him to move off of her, because when he'd fallen, her hands had been at her sides and now they were trapped there, by his weight._

 _His suffocating, dead weight._

 _Spots danced in front of her eyes,_ why wasn't he moving?

Dear god, why wasn't Ven moving?


	8. Chapter 8

Suddenly, the crushing weight was eased. For a moment it was all Amber could do to breathe, let alone anything else. She only knew Ven hadn't moved on his own, someone had _rolled_ him off of her.

Panicking, she sat up as soon as she was able, her hand going immediately to Ven's chest. Tears of relief pricked her eyes when she felt it moving up and down steadily. She swayed, still feeling dizzy from the lack of air. That's when she noticed Josh, standing at the edge of her bed with a sour expression twisting his lips.

"Could you be anymore disgusting?" He shook his head, sneering at Ven's limp form.

"What did you do, Josh? Dear god, _what did you do to him?"_

"It wasn't me." He smiled coldly. "Remember, I told you I found friends who know all about your precious New Species….and how to bring them to heel like good little puppies."

"Thank you so much for distracting him for us, though. It made it that much easier." A slim woman with Asian features moved from behind Josh, who smirked as he waved a hand from her to Amber.

"Gi, this is Amber. Amber, Dr. Maeng."

"This is the woman you told me about? The scientist from the fundraiser?" The word 'scientist' came out of her mouth like a bad word.

"Oh, you always were quick on the uptake." Josh said bitingly. "Yes, she is. And she was very interested to hear about your new fuck buddy."

When Josh had interrupted her run, leading to the black eye incident, he had been on and on about that stupid fundraiser he'd been to, and how much she needed to learn about the NS. How much had been kept secret from the general public. How much her employers should be in cages, not running around free.

He had sounded like a huge conspiracy nut, to be honest, and she had barely paid attention. But she knew Josh had mentioned Dr. Maeng several times. Amber was wishing she had tuned in better then. But she sure as hell was now. The woman didn't look like a monster, but when she leaned over to exam Ven, Amber slapped her hand away.

Instantly, two goons Amber hadn't yet noticed yanked her off the bed, away from the doctor…and Ven. More panic hit Amber as she realized Ven was at least alive, what about the other New Species? Her gut tightened painfully.

" _What did you do to Brass and Flame?_ And Jinx?!" Amber struggled against the hands holding, her eyes desperately going to the windows as she screamed their names.

Josh stepped forward and slapped her hard across the face. "Shut up, you stupid cunt!

I can't believe you're all teary eyed about a couple of animals. I guess I shouldn't be as you're fucking one of them. Maybe all of them. You always were such a damn slut." Josh spit in her face, shocking her silent. "Don't worry about your pets, they're fine. Too much trouble to kill them, so they all got Tazered, too. But the doctor isn't interested in them. Just your big baldy there. Apparently, he's _special."_

The sick feeling in Amber's stomach starting forming itself into knots. "Why? What are you going to do to Ven?" She addressed her words to the doctor, not Josh.

"Don't worry," Gi Maeng spoke smoothly as she straightened from examining Ven. "You'll be there to see every bit of it."

"Wait." Josh suddenly went stiff. "You didn't say anything about taking Amber with him."

"I know, you just wanted us to kill her for you instead." The doctor rolled her eyes, then gave an icy smile that had goosebumps snaking down Amber's neck. "But she's far more valuable to me alive, as leverage. It's a more effective use of assets to use her to control him, rather than Tazers and drugs. Plus, I am very interested to know how long they've been having sex." The doctor's light brown eyes traveled over Amber as if she were a specimen in a jar. "When was the first time he came in you? Are you using protection?"

Amber stared. "Go to hell, you fucking bitch."

Dr. Maeng smiled, then turned to one of the goons holding Amber. "Shoot him."

The man let Amber go at once, taking a gun from a holster under his jacket. "Where, boss?"

She shrugged, her eyes on Amber. "Right shoulder. He'll recover from that easily enough." The man nodded, twisting what had to be a silencer on the end of the gun, then he extended his arm.

Amber didn't believe they would do it, but when she watched his finger tighten…

"No!" She shrieked. _"Don't…_ please."

The doctor lifted a hand, and the man pulled his finger from the trigger. "Answers?"

"Umm," Amber was trying to breathe, to think. "We…that…only two weeks ago. Ten days, I think. And, I'm on the shot…but I missed my six month appointment." She just realized this, having forgotten in all the excitement of the last week. _How could it possibly matter, though?_ Amber thought wildly. New Species were sterile…weren't they?

"That's good. Very good. It's nice to see I can use this leverage both ways. So efficient." She gave Amber a frightening normal nod, then jerked her head at the man with the gun. "Kill the rat."

"What? Ven? NO!" Amber screamed, lurching forward, only to have hard hands hold her back, but it wasn't Ven the man aimed his gun at anyway. It was Josh.

It happened so fast, so casually and quietly, Amber didn't believe it at first. Josh didn't even have time to make a sound. His eyes widened, his mouth opened…

Then there was a faint pop, like a balloon bursting.

Three times, the gun fired. Slightly louder each time. Two point blank in the chest. One in the head. There was no blood until the last shot.

That was Amber's first thought as Josh staggered backwards, _where is all the blood?_

Even when the last shot blew out the back of his head all over her dresser mirror, she didn't scream. She couldn't.

It was too terrifying for screams, she just stood there gulping air.

"Thank god I don't have to hear him yap anymore. Tiresome prick, wasn't he?" The doctor sighed, then turned to Amber who was standing next to the bed, stiff with horror, unable to tear her eyes away from Josh's body.

The doctor sighed again. "Get over it, you little idiot, he sold you out like so much junk stock. We have to run. Strip them both bare," she spoke to the men covering Ven, yanking open Amber's dresser, despite the pink and gray gore dripping down the wood. She threw out a pair of jeans and a top at random. "I don't know if the NSO is smart enough to have trackers on these two and I am not taking the chance. Let her dress, but don't leave her, not for a goddamn second. Him, you can leave naked. We'll back the van up to the door and be back for them both in five."

"Yes ma'am." The goons said in unison. The bristly one with the gun pushed the tip of it between her breasts hard, as left without a backward glance. "You heard the boss, bitch. Strip."

Tears threatening to streak down her face, Amber did as ordered, trying to make her mind blank, but blinking hard as the men's eyes wandered over her in tandem.

"Damn," the one without the gun—the stocky red-headed one—breathed, giving the front of his trousers a rub as he stared at her, licking his lips. "Get a load of that shit."

"Can it, Roberts. Get your pants on, bitch." The one with the gun threw the clothes the doctor had grabbed at her. "We ain't got time for this. The NSO could be here any minute."

"Not likely." The redhead laughed, still rubbing himself as he took a step closer to Amber, who felt sickly grateful for the paltry protection as she clutched her clothes to her chest like a shield. "As soon as we got the call _he_ was here, Dragon Lady had one of the other teams lob a missile at that zoo they have."

" _A missile?"_ Amber gasped, momentarily forgetting the clothes in her hands as her heart nearly stopped. "At Reservation?"

The goon with the dark, bristly hair gave her a nasty smile. "That's what he said, sweet cheeks. Now, not that I am complaining about the view, but get that ass dressed." He shoved her toward the dresser hard and Amber caught the lip of it, almost falling on top of Josh.

She bit her lips, trying not to puke, looking down at his face, his brains leaking onto her favorite purple rug. Choking back a sob, she yanked her shirt over her head. Josh was an awful person, more awful than she had ever imagined to sell Ven out like this, but to see him killed… right in front of her….

 _What was going to happen to Ven now? And her?_

Her arms started to shake as she tried clumsily to step into her jeans.

"That _is_ one fine ass." There was an appreciative whistle from behind her. "I could bend her over right now, man. Five minutes. _C'mon._ No one needs to know..."

The other guard cursed.

"Mind the job, you idiot. The doc will be back before even _you_ could finish. And you actually want that snatch after where's it's been?"

There was a low, sickening laugh. "Are you not seeing what I'm seeing? Hell yes, Dennison! Pussy is pussy. Turn around, sugar, give us a show. Never hurts to be nice to the ones in charge, you know."

"You aren't in charge, dumbass." The one with the gun was sneering as Amber turned, fastening her jeans with trembling fingers. "You don't watch it, you'll get a bullet in the brain just like that banker asshole."

Amber forced herself to straighten. "Can I get my shoes?" She was shocked to hear how calm her voice sounded. "They're right at the edge of the bed." Where she'd slipped them off when Ven had been on top of her. Ven, who was still lying, boneless and dead to the world on her bed. She bit her lip again, determined not to let them hear her whimper.

At the goon's curt nod, she put one hand on Ven's thigh, tears stinging her eyes as she reached blindly for her ballet flats under the mattress's edge. Instead, her fingers touched something cold and hard and very thin. Her phone. _Jesus Christ._ Her phone must have fallen out when she'd collapsed on the bed earlier.

Barely daring to breathe, Amber tucked the phone into one shoe, then slipped it on her foot. She found the other and put it on as well. Getting to her feet slowly, her fingers squeezing Ven's thigh. She tried to step away from the bed normally. As if there wasn't a goddamn iPhone 6 in her shoe.

Thankfully, the goons weren't looking at her now, but the door. The doctor stood there again, her face pinched with distaste.

"You idiots, you were ogling the woman, weren't you?" Without warning, she stepped forward and backhanded Amber, hard.

The slap cracked in the room, Amber staggered, her hand going to her burning cheek, even as her other hand clenched into a fist. The doctor noticed and smiled tightly before deliberately hitting her again, on the other cheek this time. Amber's neck cracked with the blow.

"You try to retaliate, and I'll have them shoot your precious dog just like I threatened before. Did you think you could distract them with your body long enough for help to come? _Idiot!_ The NSO is in chaos right now, they don't have time for _you._ And the sheriff is busy examining a bomb threat at a local school, not to mention just learning a fucking missile was let off in his airspace." With a dismissive wave, she turned back to the goons. "Get his clothes off and get him in the van! Don't forget to drug him again. A double dose this time. The Tazer and that first dose won't hold him very long." She grabbed the end of Amber's braid and yanked her out into the living room so hard Amber nearly fell to her knees.

Trying not to stumble more than necessary, keeping the precious phone in her shoe by curling her toes painfully, Amber felt the cold want of murder bloom in her heart. She knew if the opportunity presented itself she'd strangle this doctor bitch in a nanosecond. But the likelihood of such an opening seemed ridiculously thin.

They were very intent on Ven, Amber held on to that. They seemed to think he was special. Surely that worked in her favor. They were willingly to hurt him, yes, but not fatally. _He'll recover from that,_ the doctor had said. So…as long as Vengeance _lived,_ Amber told herself, she couldn't let herself give up.

But _why_ were they so interested in him? Was it the drug resistance he had mentioned at Homeland? How would they even know about that about him, though? _How had they identified him?_

She didn't know, but as the doctor threw her into the back of a van with darkened windows, Amber vowed to find out and to watch for her opportunity, no matter how slim.

He woke to pain, mild enough. And a sickening feeling in his stomach. A mouth as dry as desert sand. He blinked, his eyelids feeling heavy even as his body wanted to move, to fight, to tear, _to kill._ I am one….No. I am not at Mercile. I am not a number. I am Vengeance.

And somehow, he knew it was important to be cautious. To go slow. _Assess._

He was in a vehicle. _Yes_. The sound of the tires against asphalt hummed in his ears. Scent though, that was all _wrong._ He inhaled in increasing alarm, his heart racing as he realized that sense was nearly dead to him.

 _Why?!_

No. Don't panic. _Assess._ Ears then. He heard two heartbeats, no, three. One light and fast as a bird's. _Frightened._ His gut tightened. He knew that heart. He must protect it. Without thought, Vengeance shot to his feet.

"Jesus fuckin' Christ! He's awake!" The last words the man with the bristly dark hair ever spoke.

Ven caught him by throat with both hands, squeezing. Flesh and cartridge tore, bone cracked. And at last, blood erupted, spurting over his fingers before he saw her eyes. Watching him, her mouth open.

Those beautiful eyes. Wide. _Horrified._ Soft and brown. He remembered those eyes warm with passion, shining with love as he buried himself inside her. _Amber._

His mate.

Protect her. _Get her away from this bad place._

Ven kicked at the van door, almost tearing it from its hinges, dark highway spilling out into the night as it flew open. He whirled back around, reaching out a hand.

But no. _No._ Her head was angled oddly as a man held her tightly, his hand fisted in her braid. His face so pale, freckles stood out in stark relief. Ven could hear the coward's heart screaming, threatening to burst, this filth that held his mate's life in his shaking hands. _No. Not again._

Please, _no._

Ven froze at the van's open door. Amber could see the highway spinning out behind him, the icy spring wind screaming through the compartment.

 _Jump,_ she mouthed, the arm at her throat making it impossible to get any volume.

"Let her go." Ven's voice was scratchy, dry and so brutally unrecognizable she couldn't help, but shudder.

The guard behind her cackled madly. His fear was so obvious it made her eyes sting; ammonia and sickly sweat.

"Sure, so you can rip me apart like you did Dennison? Fuck, no. Shut the door and sit like a good puppy. There are more darts in that cabinet," the man jerked his head, at what Amber assumed was the shallow shelf just to the right of Ven. "And do it now, or I put a bullet in your bitch's brain. Choose, you fucker." He dug the barrel of the gun into her temple. "She'd not the asset, _you_ are. The doc will pissed if she dies, yeah, but they'll fucking _kill_ me if I let you get away, so I got nothing to lose. Sit the fuck down, _now!"_ The goon's voice ended on a shriek that made Amber's ears ring.

 _No, Ven. Don't listen to him._

Jump.

 _Get away._ Her eyes pleaded with him. Vengeance stared at her, then over his shoulder at the night, the easy freedom at his back.

"Go, sweetheart." Amber whispered as the man's arm loosened ever so slightly. She watched those dark eyes narrow at her, but couldn't read the emotion buried there.

Ven reached for the door handle and the guard screamed again, digging the gun barrel so hard into Amber's skin she felt it cut into her skin, the warmth of her own blood trickling down her face. She didn't care, every atom in her body was willing Vengeance out that door, to safety.

 _"Please, Ven._ For me. _"_ She shut her eyes, unable to watch.

 _Please, please, please._


	9. Chapter 9

Ven closed the door, twisting the bent handle back into shape as he stared at the vile human holding Amber. "I _will_ kill you."

Amber's eyes flew open. Ven saw the tears there and it angered him. Did she really think he would leave her to save himself?

"Not today, you won't," the man cackled, his mouth nearly touching Amber's ear. "Now get the darts and sit, goddamn it. I want to see you push 'em deep, you hear?"

Ven eyed the case next to him and then the man behind his mate. Sensing his train of thought, the redhead laughed again. "Try it. You may get one in me, but it won't work fast enough to stop me from pulling the trigger. Then you'll get me, _yeah…_ but you'll be picking your bitch's brains outta your teeth. Want to risk it, beast boy?"

With a snarl, Ven grabbed two of the darts.

"Make it three. Doc knew you needed extra, but we doubled up before and you still came out from under in less than forty minutes. I want you down for at least an hour. The next time you come to, you'll be back in a cage, where you fucking belong."

Ven added another dart and sat. He was still naked, what there was of the frayed carpeting was tore up and the metal beneath was cold on his ass, but he didn't flinch as he uncapped the darts with his teeth. Facing the human, facing Amber. He was still furious at her for expecting him to jump, but that didn't mean the sight of her terror didn't slice him to the bone.

"It will be alright," he swore to her, looking straight into those beautiful eyes as he slammed the darts into the thick meat of one shoulder. Ven didn't flinch at the pain, but she did.

"No, it won't." The guard was laughing again as Ven's sight started to go hazy.

"You're already dead. You just don't know it yet." He forced the words out with a hard smile as the darkness came down.

The guard stopped laughing, but Ven didn't notice, he'd turned his eyes back to Amber, wanting her face to be the last thing he saw _before…._

Amber swallowed a sob as Vengeance slowly keeled over and went still. The guard gave a satisfied grunt and shoved to his feet, pushing her aside as he stepped warily closer to check that Ven was really out.

Keeping her eyes on the guard's back, she reached for the phone in her shoe. Hitting the message icon, she heard the soft, low chirrup and her heart almost stopped. The guard's head lifted, but only to kick Ven again, making sure he was really out and not faking.

She pushed down the mute button on the side of the phone, then started texting, barely darting her eyes down to check whose contact had come up first. Then the guard made a retching sound as he shoved his headless coworker's body out of the way with one foot. She yanked her gaze back to him, without knowing who she was texting. She thought she had seen a 'B' but she wasn't sure through the cracked screen.

It didn't matter. She wasn't positive about who she had texted last, but she was fairly certain it had been Breeze or Justice.

Hoping like hell she hadn't make too many typos, considering what she was trying to tell them, but there was no time to check. Amber hit send. She was able to bury her hand behind the wheel well, just as the guard turned to pick up his radio from where it had dropped earlier. He started screaming into it.

Right above her now, but not paying much attention, the guard keep at it. Her fingers slid forward, digging into the thin upholstery seams, trying to tear something loose. Nothing was giving way. She felt the van starting to slow, the road becoming more and more rough, bouncing her and the guard from side to side.

Where ever they were going, she thought they were almost there.

 _Fuck._

Desperately, she ripped at the rough fabric. Breaking two nails to the quick, she finally got a finger under and tore at it with all her strength, just as the van slowed to a stop. She shoved the phone deep under the fabric, trying her best to smooth it down. The doors opened.

A man with blonde hair stuck his head in, staring at Vengeance's naked body, then the carnage that was the back of the van. "That's gonna leave a stain, Roberts," he drawled.

Then his pale blue eyes flickered to Amber.

His smile was so icy it made her chest hurt. He patted Ven's shoulder almost fondly as he hauled himself into the van.

"What's your name, darling?" He moved straight for her, agilely avoiding the worst of the blood.

She shrank back from him instinctively, then shook herself, closing her fists tight and sitting up straight. He raised his eyebrows before casually backhanding her hard. Lights and pain burst inside her brain and the back of her head slammed hard into the metal wall of the van.

Unlike the doctor's slaps, this one had Amber fighting to stay conscious. She blinked and fought with the sudden urge to be sick.

"Jesus, don't kill the bitch." The blond didn't even turn at the redhead's words, just lifted a hand and watched Amber like a snake.

The other guard went silent, shrugging as he jumped out of the van, to yell," Come on, help me move this heavy-ass bastard into his shiny new cage before he wakes up and rips all your lazy fuckers heads off!"

"You gonna answer me, darling, or I gotta give you some more?"

She tried to focus on him, dazed, tasting her own blood. Pushing back against the wall of the van, Amber got slowly to her feet, trying to clear her head.

"Amber Keely." She spit the glob of blood at his feet, expecting him to hit her again and ready this time, lowering into a slight crouch. He laughed, lifting the hand he'd been holding out of sight. She only caught a glimpse of the Tazer before he fired it.

When she blinked again, she was on the floor of the van. The blonde was crouched next to her, lightly stroking her throat with fingers that would've made her skin crawl, had she been able to feel anything but pain. "This is gonna be all _kinds_ of fun. I can't wait."

"You Tazered her?" Hours later, Dr. Maeng's voice was shrill.

"Just a little jolt." The blonde gave the doctor a bland look, then turned back to where Amber lay, strapped to a gurney after the most disgustingly thorough exam she could ever remember having. She wasn't naked anymore, the doctor had dressed her in lightweight gray scrubs, but Amber could feel those pale eyes wandering over her, as they had during the whole lengthy exam.

She refused to look at him, glaring up at the ceiling instead.

"She could be pregnant, you fool!"

The blonde snorted. "Sure, doc. I know you're a genius and all, but you're new to this playing field. I was with Mercile almost from day one and none of the women we threw at them ever came anywhere close to killing the rabbit, if you get me. Not their own kind, or the humans we tried them with."

"I thought most of the humans died?"

The guard shrugged. _"Most_ , yeah. But a few here and there survived. And none of them ever got a baby bump, except maybe by way of a guard or two." He shot a wink at Amber, but she didn't flinch.

The doctor gave a snort of disgust. "Well, if they were letting you men take your enjoyment from the specimens, that was certainly an issue." Amber heard the snap of gloves being removed and running water. "Honestly, I am surprised at how much Mercile actually accomplished. They seem to have hired a lot of sloppy scientists." Her voice turned excited, "but _this_ one has been with him over the most fertile time in her cycle. It could be the perfect opportunity."

"I thought the NSO makes all the human women they hire take that shot, so they can work around the animals without getting fucked left and right. Not that it appears it did much good here." He sent a sneer Amber's way.

"Ahhh, but she forgot to get her dose this month. And we know 161 has an impressive resistance to drugs of all sorts." Amber could almost hear the doctor rubbing her hands together.

"You think that extends to his jizz? _Jesus."_

"Crude, but accurate. I'll know more when I can get a sample and see what kind of sperm count he has. Right now, I want to go have a look at all the blood we took from him. Take her back and put her in his cage."

Amber finally slid her eyes down and saw the blonde watching her avidly. She looked back at the ceiling. "Are you sure that's a good idea, doctor? Giving him what he wants?"

Dr. Maeng's voice cracked like a whip. "Do as I say. I know you enjoy your reputation as a sadistic bastard, but don't try to intimidate me, not if you want paid. Take her to his cage and give her to him, and no funny business before hand." The woman paused, then said carefully. "I'm very grateful to you for identifying him when that rat pulled him his photo out of the Mercile papers we found. In fact, I might be willing to let you have her— when, and if, we decide the experiment has run its course—but not before. You understand me?"

"I hear you. Just offering the voice of experience is all, Doc. But you do your thing, it's all good."

The man's voice was deceptively mild, but Amber could hear the malice in it. And despite what Dr. Maeng had said, he did scare the woman. _A lot._ He scared Amber, too. There was something wrong with him; with his eyes, even the way he moved. He made her stomach churn and everything inside her want to shrivel up in terror.

She had to be strong though. _For Ven._

The doctor left. The guard took his time coming over to her. She sat up, hands meekly in her lap. Her eyes must have shown her rage, though, because he was grinning when he stopped in front of her. He shook his head slowly, raising one finger to wag it back and forth.

"Looking at me like that only turns me on, darling. Wanna feel?" He reached for her hand, but Amber's foot twitched, telegraphing her intent. He jumped quickly out of range, but he didn't appear angry, only amused. "Now, don't try and damage the equipment, little lady. You'll be getting to see it up close and personal real soon, I'm betting. Get up," he ordered. "And if you try anything, I'll give you another shiner."

Amber got up, stifling a gasp at how sore she was after lying down for so long. It had been at least three hours since she'd seen half a dozen guards yanking Vengeance out of the back of that van. She wondered what they'd done to him and forced herself to follow after the blonde at a trot.

They were in what resembled to her mind an abandoned military complex. Some corridors were clean and shiny and full of light, others were dank, with cracked concrete and water sitting in smelly puddles. There were no windows anywhere and while Amber had been disorientated from the Tazer when she'd been brought in, she was sure they had spent a very long time in an elevator. Much longer than normal. An underground complex then.

Where though? They weren't too far from her home in Penn Valley. Probably less than two hours from Homeland. More from Reservation, depending on what direction they had gone. _God._

 _Reservation_. Her stomach heaved as she thought of the devastation a missile would have on that beautiful place. Maybe they had been lying…

A huge room had opened ahead, and the guard ushered her through with a flourish. "Ladies first," he smirked.

She went in. There was space enough for many, many cages here, and it was evident from the scrapped concrete that there had been in the past.

But now there was just one.

It looked small in the middle of the cavernous room, and smaller yet for the size of the male trapped inside of it. Vengeance was there, pacing, his bare, bronzed back toward her. He looked unharmed and for a minute, despite everything, she just drank in the sight of him. They'd given him some strange sort of pants, almost like the bottoms of a sweat suit, with what looked like racing stripes down the side. His big feet were bare and his hands were clenched into huge fists.

Amber could hear his breathing as she got closer. He must still be having issues with scent, she thought worriedly, because he didn't turn, even when she was just a couple steps away….

Abruptly, Vengeance whirled and lunged at the bars. That deadly powerful body leaping toward her as he let out a furious howl that threatened to make her ears bleed. Her throat was in his fingers, her face yanked painfully up to the bars before she could even let out the smallest squeak of terror.

His black eyes met hers and instantly, his fingers loosened, his enraged expression turning to horror. " _Amber!"_

Having fallen on her ass when he had let her go, she was already skittering backward, like a crab. Instinctively, she didn't stop until she was well out of his impressive reach. Gasping, she put a hand to her throat, looking up at him in shock….but that was starting to wear off. _He hadn't known it was her._

Of course, he'd heard the steps approaching, but he still couldn't smell right….

"Amber," he repeated, his voice rough and breaking, his eyes pleading. "I…."

Jumping to her feet, she ran forward, stretching her arms through the bars to touch him. Almost crying when her fingers met his warm skin, that body she was so close to memorizing for life.

"Vengeance," she whispered, shaking as her hands clung to every part of him she could reach.

She heard him swallow as one big hand cupped the back of her head. His lips brushed her forehead again and again.

The sound of clapping cut through the quiet, bouncing sharply back and forth against all the flat hard surfaces, until it stung the ears.

"How fucking _sweet."_

Vengeance's head lifted at the sound of the guard's voice. From somewhere deep inside of him, Amber felt a rumble. A low, menacing sound that had the hairs on the backs on her arms standing straight up. She shivered, holding him tighter.

 _"Trainor."_ he snarled.

Ven turned away from Amber, putting her hands from him as he stalked to where the tall, blond guard approached. She leaned her head against the bars, wrapping her fingers around them tightly to stay upright as she started to shake, watching them. _No._ It can't be. Not _him._

"It's nice to see you again, too, 161. Though I gotta say, not sure the Vin Diesel look suits you." The tall blond guard smirked as Ven watched him silently for a long moment.

"My name," he finally bit out, looking the pale-eyed man straight in the eye, "is Vengeance."

Trainor smiled. "Did you take that name for _me?_ I bet you did. It's so wonderful to be remembered. Though…I see you have replaced poor 134. Forget her already?" He licked his lips as his eyes flickered to Amber. "I can see why. This one is _much_ more my type. I really want to fuck her before I kill her." He leaned in closer as Ven started to growl, still being very careful to stay just out of the Species' reach. Pulling a bone-handled knife from his pocket, he held it up so the keen edge flickered in the sallow, florescent light. "The very same one. You remember it, right?"

Trainor laughed until tears ran down his face when Vengeance finally lost it, hurtling himself at the bars. Amber's screams rang through the room, begging him to stop.


	10. Chapter 10

Even once Amber managed to get through to Ven, Trainor refused to let her in the cage for over a half hour. Taunting the Species for his loss of control even as Trainor tried to provoke the Species at every turn. These people weren't fair, they weren't rational, and as Amber was beginning to realize, they weren't really human at all, but monsters in human form.

"Okay," Trainor sighed as his last round of insults brought him nothing but a blank stare, "be a good puppy and I'll give you back your chew toy. You remember the drill, hands behind your back and through the bars."

Ven backed into the far cage wall, waiting as Trainor took his time, shaking out two pairs of oddly thick handcuffs from his belt as he started around the enclosure.

The guard saw Amber's frown and smiled. "Reinforced ankle cuffs. These animals think they're so tough, but I know all their little tricks, don't I, 161?"

"Stop calling him that." Amber scowled as Trainor wrenched Ven's arms back and crossed them, deliberately cruel as he laughed at her.

"This here's a lab rat, nothing more, nothing less." He cuffed Vengeance's wrists, twisting first one arm to the farthest bar he could reach, then the other. The position had to be painful, but Ven didn't make a sound. His face was blank, his eyes cold. He seemed to have gone deep inside himself since the incident earlier.

Finally done, Trainor walked back to the door where Amber waited. She resisted the urge to sidle away as he deliberately crowed her. Trainor was a perfectly normal-looking man, handsome even. Just another American ex-jock, ten years or so out of high school, still a bit arrogant maybe, the popular boy gone slightly to seed. There were half a dozen like him in every small town.

Amber shivered. _Or so one might think, until those pale eyes rested on_ you.

A switch seemed to flip on a DNA level as her eyes met his. Every nerve screamed out, begging her to run away, but there was nowhere to go. He gave her a knowing smile right before her eyes dropped.

Amber forced herself to wait quietly. To be still and not look at him, just his hands, purposely taking ages to unlock that cage door. When it swung open, she couldn't help herself from rushing forward, her body both desperate to get closer to Ven….and far from Trainor.

The guard caught her gleefully around the waist before she'd taken two steps, yanking her back against him.

"Whoa there, darling. Such an eager little beaver you got here, 161!"

Trainor nuzzled her ear and gorge rose in Amber's throat. She kept her gaze on Ven, chained on the other side of the cage. Only a couple arm's lengths away, but so far. She strained forward as Trainor yanked her back again. The Species didn't move, though his eyes were as black as pitch. Amber knew he was fighting to control himself, but there was death in that stare.

Trainor pulled her braid back ruthlessly, and started rubbing his hips against Amber's ass, letting her feel him getting hard. Gritting her teeth against the disgust that welled, she lifted her chin, taking Ven's hint, refusing to react, to make a sound.

"Ah, c'mon, don't you two want to party?" Trainor laughed. Amber felt him shift against her and watched out of the corner of her eye as he pulled his knife up, thumbing it open with one hand, bringing the tip to the flimsy cloth between Amber's breasts. "Maybe if I strip you naked, that'll get you in the mood. What do you think, 161?"

Every muscle in Ven's massive body rippled once and then went rigid, as if he'd been carved right there out of bronzed stone. The force of his exertion was quiet, but tangible. Energy crackled in the air. His stomach tightened until Amber could see every sharply defined ridge and his deep chest bunched as he pulled. Trainor chuckled softly.

Then metal started to whine. Behind her, the evil guard went still.

"You'll dislocate both your shoulders before you can break those chains." Trainor's voice was trying for cruel amusement, but she'd heard his sudden intake of breath and the way he'd backed up ever so slightly.

Ven didn't speak, didn't blink. Just set his feet and pulled harder, the loose fitting pants straining now as his heavy thigh muscles bulged. Trainor swallowed, but refused to let Amber go. The contest of wills between the two was like a storm charging the air. The sudden loud burst of static made her jump.

"Get out of there, Trainor." The tinny voice sounded from somewhere above, speakers hidden in the walls. "Give the woman to 161 and get out of there. _Now."_

With a curse, Trainor threw Amber forward. She fell painfully to her knees, her hands going out to catch herself as she fell face down, gasping at Ven's feet. The door slammed shut just as there was a long, grinding ping. Something metallic sparked across the concrete floor and skittered out of the cage. Amber's eyes followed it. It was the link of one of the cuffs; bent, twisted and broken. It bounced into Trainor's boot, he stared at it for a long moment and then kicked it across the room.

A heavy weight came down on Amber's head. Ven's hand. Freed. Stroking her hair, his rough fingers cupping her face. One arm was still twisted cruelly behind his back. How he had ever broken free in that position…. The pain it most have cost him….

She stumbled to her feet, clinging to his hand, keeping it pressed against her face as she curled into him, pulling his arm around her. For a moment just being skin to skin with him again was nearly enough to make her collapse.

The scuffle of boots walking away made her lift her head. Trainor was leaving. Furious, she whirled. "You come back here and unlock that other cuff, right now!"

Trainor laughed spitefully and kept walking. "He managed to get loose from one, let him take care of the other. Or he can stand there all night. I really don't give a shit." The guard started whistling and put his hands in his pockets. Amber stepped forward, but Ven pulled her back.

"It's fine," he whispered in her ear. He pushed her gently a pace back and set his shoulder against one bar. Vengeance bowed his head and planted his feet again. In less than a minute there was another ping. Before she could think about it, Amber snatched at the link that burst free this time. It was surprisingly hot, stinging her fingers, smelling of sulfur, but she gripped it anyway and flung it at the guard's retreating back.

Her aim was true, she nailed him right in the base of his skull. Trainor froze, whirling to look at Amber in disbelieving fury, but she only sneered.

"You're pathetic, even chained and in a cage, Ven's more a man than you could ever be. And you know it. That's why you hate him, you lousy piece of shit!"

Vengeance growled softly at the look on Trainor's face, but Amber laughed, hysterical as she flipped the guard off. Then two huge hard arms circled her from behind.

Trainor took a step forward as he rubbed his head, cursing as his fingers came away red. Staring at his own blood in apparent shock. "You'll pay for that, you stupid bitch. I'll make you pay until you'll do anything to make it stop. _Anything…"_

Another guard raced into the room, boots pounding. "Trainor, get your ass up to Dr. Maeng. _Now."_ This one didn't look happy at relaying his orders. He eyed Trainor warily, his pale face sweaty and his eyes darting every which way. After a long minute, Trainor turned away from Amber, his fists clenched.

"Soon," he whispered before backing away and turning for the doorway.

"Your keys, man. The doctor said…"

With a curse, Trainor threw the keys at the cringing guard, making him scramble across the floor for them before he vanished out the door.

The relief at having that foul man gone, even though she knew it was only temporary made Amber go limp in Ven's arms. She felt the broken chains still swinging from his wrists, and the warmth of his blood slowly dripping from the torn flesh around the metal.

"Please," she called out to the new guard, her voice soft. "Give me the keys so I can take these off of him. And if your precious doctor doesn't want him to get an infection she should…"

"Oh shut it, you stupid cunt." The guard twisted the handcuff keys off Trainor's ring and stomped across the room, grabbing a first aid kit from a shelf lined with them. He tossed both at her. "I don't give a shit if gangrene takes both this asshole's arms, but the doctor wants you to clean him up. You're to hand those cuffs out to me, nice and slow. No tagging me like you did Trainor." He waved a Tazer. "Or your pet gets a taste of this."

Time passed, the lights went off eventually. It felt like hours later, but Vengeance couldn't be sure about the time anymore. Fluorescents flickered in the hallway, but in the cage it must be near pitch black because Amber was staring at him, her gaze slightly off as if she couldn't make out exactly where his eyes were. His own night vision allowed him to see her perfectly. Too perfectly. Her face was white and strained.

Earlier, she'd cleaned his wounds so tenderly it made him ache, but what really got to him was watching her hands shake as she bit her lips to try and get ahold of herself. She was absolutely terrified. Trying so hard to be brave, like that stunt with Trainor that had nearly stopped his heart. He couldn't help but be proud of her, but he was also angry. He didn't want her to draw anymore of the guard's attention. She had far too much of it as it was.

"You shouldn't have mocked Trainor. He'll try and hurt you more for that."

She stared at him. "If we don't get out of here, he'll hurt me anyway. But he won't break me, Vengeance. I won't give into him—"

"No, you won't break. But yes, you will give into him. You _must."_ Ven glared at her, grabbing her chin in his fingers. "If that what it takes to keep you alive, you'll do whatever he says. Whatever he wants of you." She shook in his grip, trying to shake her head, her expression horrified, pleading.

"No! I can't do that…Ven…I _can't."_ A tear escaped and clung to her lashes. Something seemed to rip apart deep inside him, but she had to understand. _Survival was everything._ No matter what happened….Amber _had_ to survive.

"You can. You can do anything, Amber."

"But I…you…." She blinked, tears falling freely now, her distress apparent.

He growled, his lip curling as he read her fear. "You think if he took you, it would make me not want you? Nothing could do that, Amber. _Ever._ Do you understand me? The only thing that can separate us is death. You're not allowed to die."

She swallowed, her eyes narrowing. "And you know he'll kill me though. Once he's had his fun, he'll kill me, Vengeance."

"Every second that you still breathe, there is hope. Promise you will give me every one of those seconds to save you."

She dropped her head into his chest, crying softly. "How can you ask that of me?"

Her tears were hot on his skin, her despair burning him. But he wouldn't quit. His fingers tightened and he forced her head up again.

"Because I love you. And I can't live without you. _Promise_ me, Amber?"

Her eyes closed and her voice was so soft even his keen ears barely caught her broken words. "I promise."

"No matter wh—" Amber put her fingers over his lips. They trembled as she shook her head.

"Stop. Please. No more. I just….I _can't,_ Ven. Take me away from here, please."

His heart threatened to shatter in his chest, icy shards ripping him from the inside out, if only he could do as she asked, but….

Her mouth sought his as she went to her toes, digging her fingers into his arms, as she spoke the words against his lips. "I need you, Ven. Now. Take me away, please."

He swallowed, finally recognizing the desperate intent in her face. "They're still watching," he leaned down, letting his mouth brush her ear. Her smell was coming back to him, faint yet, but enough to make his balls tighten and his cock go hard.

"I don't care." She clung to him. "I need you."

He could feel her trembling, and it hit him how close she was to breaking. For a moment, he couldn't move. Then her hands trailed down his ribs, tracing the one side of the deep V low down on his stomach. An area she had found to made his knees buckle, every time. Then her touch moved lower, under the waistband of his pants. When her palm cupped his swollen tip and stroked down his length, it took everything Ven had not to throw her against the bars and just bury himself inside her. She wasn't the only one desperate here. He was dangerous to both of them right now, and he knew it.

But Amber needed to escape this place. He could do that for her—in the only way available to them both. He couldn't tear his eyes away as she continued to caress him, harder now, her soft lips parting as she coaxed his pants down. Her thumb found the tip of him, dipping into the glistening pre-cum leaking there, sending shockwaves into his spine even before she lifted her hand and sucked her thumb into her mouth.

It was too fucking much, his control slipped and vanished. _"Amber."_

He grabbed her hips, lifting and flipping her in one movement, forcing her facedown over the small cot in the corner of the cage. Yanking her hips to the very edge, he ripped the ugly scrubs over her head, then pushed her forward to tear the bottoms from her legs. Her bare skin seemed to glow in the darkness; the satin curve of her spine, the lushness of her ass spread below him, the soft pink opening of her sex.

 _"Mine,"_ he breathed, barely recognizing the deep rasp of his own voice.

With a knee, he shoved her legs apart. Ven heard her gasp, saw her fingers instinctively claw for purchase in the thin mattress, but he couldn't stop. It was too late for that now.

When he pressed against her, finding her as slick and hot as if he'd used his mouth on her over and over, a low snarl of relief and primal satisfaction escaped his lips.

At the first touch of him, she arched back, moaning his name, sinking his cock a few inches into heaven. He nearly howled from the overwhelming flood of pleasure that ran from his cock straight to the base of his brain. There was no way in hell he could've stopped his hips from surging forward, burying himself balls deep inside her.

So _tight_. So _hot._ So fucking _perfect._

Amber pressed her fist against her lips, biting down into her own flesh, but he heard the breathless whine that escaped her. Somehow Vengeance managed to freeze, even though every nerve ending in his body growled for him to take her hard, to mark her as his, instinct and need warred with his control…until Amber's whimpered words shattered both.

"No, don't stop. _Don't._ Stop!" Her head thrashed on the cot, her hand reaching back to claw at his hip. "Please. More. _All of you, Ven._ All."

He let himself go, completely. Over and over he took her, harder than he'd ever dared before. His hips smacking into her ass, lifting her body and throwing it forward with each stroke. Her skin turned rosy and warm as sweat slicked her spine, beading down her neck, tempting him further….

Bending forward, he sank his teeth into that sweet flesh. Instantly and violently, Amber came. Crying out as her lithe body twisted under him, her pussy locking down, squeezing until his cock exploded inside her. The force of his orgasm rocked Ven forward, his shoulders bowing over his mate, covering her shaking body as they rode the stars together.

He licked the shallow wound he had made as they came down. Unable to stop the low feral groan of pleasure at the taste of her blood, her hot skin as his dick emptied one last time inside her, locking them tightly together.

"Mine," Vengeance said again, his voice soft with love and fierce with possession. Unmindful of the cage he was in, or the walls around him. No matter what their fate, Amber, in this moment, had set him free.

Forever.

NOTE! Readers, lurkers and commenters, thank you all so much for reading and following along and your wonderful reviews! They keep me at it, and I am so glad you're enjoying Ven and Amber's story. LD has created such a wonderful world with the NS.

I know that I, for one, never want to leave, so thanks for joining me there. We're closing in on the end now. Hold on tight and grab some Kleenex and a bottle of wine. You just might need it.


	11. Chapter 11

Brass lifted got his arms around a chunk of concrete as big as a full-grown Rottweiler and threw it into the growing pile. Dust plumed into the air as it landed with a boom. Breathing through his mask made him feel like he was suffocating, like something was sitting on his chest. No, _that_ was just guilt about Amber and Vengeance.

It had been nearly a fucking week. _Six days._ Unable to breathe, Brass yanked off his mask and stomped away from the site where they were clearing away the worst of the debris.

There were half a dozen like it scattered within a mile around him. The missile had struck the outer edge of the compound at Reservation. Ironically, it had hit the human workers quarters hardest. The best thing that could be said was that since it was the middle of the day, hardly anyone had been there. Three humans had died and one Species. An even dozen wounded, several critically, but all expected to recover.

He hadn't even known about the missile when he'd come to under a bush at Amber's house. He'd just been furious no one was there yet to help them. By Flame's watch it had been almost three hours since they'd arrived. But in the chaos, everyone had either forgotten about them or had no manpower to get to them.

By the time he and Flame had made contact, it was full-on dark. The cops had arrived after they'd called in the human's body, but nobody had a clue where Amber or Vengeance had vanished to, or who had them.

Brass snarled, throwing his mask and heavy gloves to the ground. Whoever had gone after them must've wanted Vengeance damn bad.

It _had_ to be Ven, they all knew it, they just weren't sure how or why. Justice's prevailing theory on _why_ was that it must have to do with Vengeance's supposed drug resistance that had been so valuable to Mercile, but the _how_ was a lot the hell had anyone had figured out who he was? Or that he'd be at Amber's?

But it seemed certain he'd been the target of some very impressive planning. Where that left Amber, no one knew. Every male Species though, knew why she'd been taken. _To control Ven._ It was a tactic they were all intimately familiar with.

A branch snapped behind Brass and he whirled, his lips twisting back in a growl. Flame slowed his approach, spreading his hands, the tight smile strained on his normally amiable face. "Easy there. Just me, bearing gifts."

Brass turned away. "Any word?" He asked every time he saw any member of the council and the answer was always the same. The same two words. He thought if he heard them again, they would destroy him, but he asked anyway.

"Not yet."

Brass bowed his head, wondering if Amber was already dead. He hadn't lied to Ven, he knew wasn't in love with Amber and he didn't feel about her that way… but he still cared about her. _Very much._ And he cared about his friend. If Ven lost Amber….they all lost Ven. Pure and simple.

"Hey, don't you want to see what I brought you?" Flame's voice tried for his familiar teasing tone, but fell flat. Everyone was raw this week, but Flame was trying, because he was Flame.

With a sigh, Brass turned to see the redheaded Species holding out his phone.

"God, where'd you find that?"

Flame shook his head, his blue eyes dark. "They released everything the cops impounded at Amber's. Everything that belonged to us, anyway. How did you not miss it?"

Brass stared down at the flat bit of plastic and metal. He shrugged. "I never really got used to using the damn thing. Amber was the only one who ever texted me anyway…" His voice trailed off, his heart tightening painfully in his chest. It was impossible and Brass knew it, but hope still grabbed him hard as Flame watched.

Brass's hand shook as he ran his thumb over the cracked screen. It must have smashed into the ground when the Tazer had hit him, but would the electricity have fried it?

 _Please._ Fucking _please._ With a chirrup, the screen glowed a soft blue. Two messages!

His eyes scanned, they made no sense to him, except the last line:

 _Come and get us!_ And the sender's name. _Amber._

 _"_ Flame! _Look."_

The redhead bent forward as Brass held out the phone, his arm swaying. With a frown the Species glanced down, his eyes moving back and forth and widening as he read.

His eyebrows shot up. "I know what this is. Oh, fucking hell, you clever, clever female!"

Flame yanked out his own phone, typing frantically.

"What?! What is it, Flame?"

The redhead's blue eyes never left his phone. "She sent you her Apple ID and password. Which means you can access her account, and I bet…I just bet….oh fucking, come on!" Flame's knuckles went white as the fingers of his other hand flew.

Brass was lost, but his heart was pounding at the look on Flame's face. "What good is that? _Tell me,_ goddamn it!"

"She has Find My iPhone enabled, a GPS positioning app that helps find lost phones… and she gave you the motherfucking key."

"Won't her phone be dead by now, even if whoever has them didn't find it?"

"Doesn't matter, It will still have telegraphed her last location, the last time she accessed cellular or WiFi, which would've been when she texted you—YES!" He held up his phone, his eyes shining with a fierce jubilance.

The room was quiet, the kind of quiet that presses on the ears and the heart.

They were all exhausted. It'd been a hell of a week. Justice rubbed his eyes wearily, looking from Fury to Trisha to Tiger to Slade, and then to his wife, curled up in Slade's office couch next to him, her hand on his chest. He reached down and covered it with his own.

"We can't give up," but Fury's voice was tired. He pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned back against the wall, his eyes closing.

 _Nothing._ What could you do with absolutely…nothing? Not so much as a trace of who could've taken Vengeance and Amber had come up. No prints on scene. Coulson was dead, no answers to be had there. His phone was gone, his computer wiped. Both his personal laptop and the one at his office. Tim and the Task Force were good, but even they had to have at least _something_ to go on.

Trisha propped her jaw into her hand as she leaned over her husband's desk. She was turning the pages of Amber's employee file again. It included everything, her background check, her contacts (every one examined and cross examined already) and her medical charts; since all human workers signed a medical release waiver. The doctor straightened as something caught her eye.

"She missed her last birth control shot. Did you know that?" Trisha had been on a rare visit to her family with Slade for the last three weeks, they had only got back to Reservation the day of the missile. What a welcome home _that_ had been.

Justice blinked at her as her words sunk in, unease tickling the back of his neck as he straightened. "Fucking _shit."_

Everyone looked at him. The NSO leader wasn't one who swore often, even around these people, the people he was closest to. Politics and press conferences had taught him to guard his speech very carefully, but something had made him forget himself totally.

"What?" Jessie's voice was alarmed.

Justice's eyes turned to Fury, who'd pushed away from the wall, his jaw dropping. "We never warned him that they could get pregnant. Or her. I meant to, but…"

"What are you talking about?" Trisha stared from one of them to the other. "We told _all_ the NS about the possible of pregnancy after that last scare. Every—"

"Not Ven." Fury had a stricken look on his face.

"Why the hell not?" Trisha got to her feet. "Why would you—"

"Let him explain." Jessie narrowed her eyes at the doctor and for a moment the two women stared each other down, but finally the doctor took her seat. Slade moved behind her, his hand resting on one shoulder. Trisha leaned into him ever so slightly.

Justice shook his head, his hands clenched. "We thought it was for his own good. After everything that happened, it seemed to me—"

"To both of us." Fury stated quietly, looking around the room. "You asked me if you were right and I thought you were. I still do."

Justice sighed. "We'd talked it over, Fury and I, and decided as unstable as he was, it was best not to mention a family was a possibility. For Vengeance, that kind of temptation seemed like a very bad idea. It was my call in the end, though. To keep it from him."

 _"But when he and Amber…?"_ Trisha stared at him. "When they went to Reservation?"

"I meant to have the older Harris tell them. At Reservation. I knew she was on the shot, we require it after all, and I…. _fuck."_ His head fell into his heads, "..forgot." He swallowed hard. "I called him right after they left, but I got another call, and then another. I was so goddamn distracted by lobbying for the land purchase and all these new threats, I never got back to it. It's my fault."

Trisha leaned back, Slade's fingers tightened slightly. After a long moment, she sighed. "Well, it's highly unlikely any of this will be a factor. She should still have quite a bit of the hormone in her system, we just…god, we just need to _find_ them!" Trisha cursed, her palm slapping the desk.

Then came the louder snap of the heavy door banging open, Brass and Flame shoved into the already crowded room. "We've got them. GPS."

There was a rumble as six people shot to their feet, and Justice's roar, "Get Tim in here now. I want the task force assembled within the hour."

Amber leaned her cheek against the cold steel of the bars, watching Dr. Maeng take blood from Vengeance again. Next it would be her. The doctor tested her blood twice a day, Ven's even more. They gave him all kinds of drugs, one by one, then tested him at intervals after. Some of the drugs made him feel sick, some of them made him act a bit odd, but all of them left his system within 90 minutes on the outside.

"It's amazing." Dr. Maeng said that so much Amber wanted to slap the bitch upside the head. She thought that would feel pretty damn amazing.

But as bad as she was, was infinitely better than Trainor. He hadn't been around much since that first day, but occasionally she would look up to see him standing in the doorway. Just standing there.

It always gave her a sickening jolt, especially as it invariably happened when Ven was gone for one of their tests. The tests he always complied with. Her big Species never complained, never attempted to hurt anyone or run away. And she knew why, he was terrified they would hurt her.

Vengeance had more than enough on his plate. So, she never told him about Trainor. It wasn't as if the guard _did_ anything. He just…looked at her. With those eyes. Pale and cold. Waiting. She closed her own eyes, letting the metal soothe her hot head. She didn't feel good, but was it any wonder?

Six days. Her and Vengeance agreed on that. As near as they could figure it had been six fucking days. _Nothing._

Where was the NSO? _Had her text even gone through?_ It was Northern California, mountains made cell reception spotty. Maybe they had no clue where they were. Without her message, how would they? Amber swallowed a moan just as Vengeance turned to her.

"Your turn." His voice was soft, but she could see the worry in his eyes.

Forcing a smile she straightened, holding her arm out. One thing about the doctor, she always drew the blood herself and she was good at it. Actually, as far as Amber knew none of the other technicians that had to be in the complex knew about her and Ven. And there were other scientists here, other Species even, though from what Vengeance had gathered, listening carefully to the guards night after night, only a handful and all males. And there were human woman here. Lots of them, apparently. Kept in some other part of the underground complex.

"Why humans?" She'd asked Vengeance that at first, but after a few days, they both knew. Dr, Maeng was obsessed with the idea that a human female and a male Species could procreate. After poring over data pulled from the old Mercile documents that Trainor had obtained for her, Dr. Maeng was convinced it was possible. Vengeance hardly seemed surprised Trainor had saved and copied confidential documents during his employment at Mercile,

He'd told her sourly that the company was almost as ruthless with its employees as it was its _experiments._ It made sense Trainor would want insurance. It was actually from those papers and files that Josh had identified Ven as the Species he'd seen on Amber's phone. And in turn, Trainor had identified that picture as 161, a Species Dr. Maeng had been looking to find for a long time.

Dr. Maeng had told them that much herself. _Gleefully._

"I would have been happy to get any of your lot." She'd also told them 'lot' referred to his number. The last few dozen of the Species with one hundred as their number had been heavily experimented on as children and teenagers. Many of them showed no effects, or died. But some had developed unusual characteristics, like Ven's drug resistance. "But you, 161, you're a _legend."_ She'd clapped her hands as she said it. At which point, Amber had spit on her.

The doctor had started, her eyes darting down in comical horror as she saw what Amber had done. Then she'd glared, her hands on her hips. "I could almost hope you _don't_ get pregnant," she had whispered. "So I _can_ give you to Trainor. He really wants you, you know." She shuddered delicately, her eyes on Amber's with a cold malevolence. "I can't even imagine what that would be like… _can you?"_

Amber had never _really_ considered whether she could kill another human being or not, but given a gun and a clear shot at either Dr. Maeng or Trainor…she now had no doubts of what she was capable of. She hated them even more for that.

The needle slid under her skin, with its all too familiar sting. She raised her eyes to Vengeance's. Looking at him never failed to calm her. He was the only thing keeping her sane in this hellhole.

His body wrapped around hers at night, his voice in her ears hour after hour, that low rumble easing her into sleep and keeping her there. Until she'd wake up, sometimes thinking they were back at the cabin, until she'd see the bars again and the panic would strike.

So, Ven would wake up and talk to her again, or they'd have sex. Lots of hard, quiet sex, seeking solace in each other's bodies almost mindlessly, but every mindful of the cameras all around them. Then they'd curl back up together and she'd sleep for a little longer.

 _If they took her away from him…_

Amber knew she'd promised Vengeance she'd survive, and she intended to keep that promise. But if they were separated, she honestly didn't know if she could bear it. There had been something in Ven's eyes the last couple days that had her worried something was coming.

She knew he heard conversations she could not; that he stayed awake longer and woke earlier. For some reason she was exhausted _all_ the time anymore. Depression was her best guess, from the constant stress of being locked up. Maybe that was all that made her think Ven was hiding something. Being caged tended to make one paranoid, but after Dr. Maeng left, she had to ask him again. "Is something bothering you, Ven?"

He seemed to tense ever so slightly, validating her fears, but then he smiled down at her. That sardonic, sexy smile. "You mean other than the cage we're in, the guards, the constant tests and the fact we have no decent window?"

Her lips curved. This was a game they had been playing for the last few days, before Ven hadn't really gotten the finer points of sarcasm —like a lot of Species—but they had been working on it. And he learned fast.

She waved a hand airly. "Oh, that stuff is old hat!"

"Then you must be talking about the lack of entertainment. It _is_ quite boring since they took out the big screen. I miss Star Wars marathons." His eyes were soft, but they couldn't quite manage a twinkle.

She sighed and reached for him. Something _was_ bothering him, but he wasn't going to share. She'd worry about it tomorrow, right now she just wanted to sleep. His arms wrapped around her, enclosing her in the cage she craved, the warm living one of his body. In seconds, Amber was asleep, unmindful of the worry creeping into those dark eyes that traced her features again and again.

Vengeance sat, staring out into the hall. Trainor was back. He'd come the night before as well. Ven saw no need to share this fact with Amber. Or the conversations he overheard as Trainor chatted up the guard outside their enclosure as the two men played endless rounds of something called poker.

"So they're not taking her with the other women to that New Mexico site tomorrow night?"

"Nah." Trainor's voice was bland. "Maeng is _really_ hoping she's preggers. Idiot doctor. If you ask me, they'll _never_ get them to breed, not even if they were the best scientists in the world. And they aren't. Abominations just aren't meant to procreate, it ain't natural. It wouldn't be _right."_

The other guard made a non-committal noise at Trainor's fervor and then asked something too low for Ven to make out.

"Oh, some fancypants in Russia wants ol' 161 when she's done with him. The doc just wants to wait before she separates them 'cause she thinks there is something special about their 'mating bond' that'll make the woman more likely to get knocked up." He snorted dismissively. "I've heard _that_ crap before, but like I said, that stupid animal in there is shooting blanks for all his magical damn DNA. So, the doc will keep her with him until the end of the week, even after they clear out the rest tomorrow. Once we hit Friday, its lights out for that bitch." Ven could hear the smile in Trainor's voice, He bit back the growl that rose in his throat.

"Why not just send her along after? To New Mexico with the other sluts?"

"I convinced her it's too much of a risk to do a second transfer. It's not smart to draw attention with a lot of air traffic in and out of here just a couple days apart. You can bet the NSO has their noses out. And we're just too damn close to Homeland for that shit. Anyway, Maeng really had to think about it. She'd like to send her with the others, thinks maybe since one animal likes banging her, others might, too. But that human batch and the rest have to leave tomorrow, and she just _has_ to have her with 161 until the last second to keep him calm. But Maeng owes me. 161's bitch is gonna be all mine, for a few hours anyway."

The satisfaction in Trainor's voice made Vengeance's whole body shake with rage. Amber stirred and he forced himself to calm, even when the man's next words had him wanting to rush the cage door. "You want a shot at some of that? I could maybe be convinced to share, if you're so inclined?" His tone was faintly mocking, as if daring the other man to accept.

"What?" The other guard's voice sounded shocked, but then turned to an almost frightened eagerness. "The doc would be okay with that?"

"Like I said, she owes me. I say you get a turn, then you get a turn. But…I'm the one who gets to kill her. _Understand?_ I got it planned real special like." Vengeance watched Trainor's eyes flicker to the doorway but knew the human couldn't see well enough to make out his face in the dark, let alone tell whether he was awake or not.

The other guard nodded. "Yeah man, whatever you say. Your deal."

Vengeance closed his eyes as the slap of cards and laughter rang through the room. He had to tune them out for now.

 _Trainor was right._ Amber wouldn't get pregnant. None of the females ever did. And once the evil doctor realized the experiment was over, she'd let Trainor kill her. _Not him._ Because Vengeance was her precious 161 and therefore valuable, but Amber was human. _Expendable._ Trainor and his buddy there would enjoy using her before they killed her.

Ven's fist tightened so hard his fingers threatened to crack. What could he do to stop it? What could he possibly do to save her? As strong as he was, in this, he was totally _helpless._ Just as when he had watched 134 die.

It enraged him, the pain, hate and despair building inside, until it felt like they would boil over and blackening his skin before ripping him apart….

But rage and hate didn't solve problems, he remembered. His head was pounding as he thought of a better time; Amber curled sweetly into his side just like now. Watching movies together in the dark, instead of listening to real monsters. It was hard, against his very nature, but Vengeance forced himself to push his raging emotions aside and _think_ this through _._

What was the worst that would happen if Amber went to this New Mexico site? The one that needed all the humans? She'd be given to another Species from what it sounded like. _Maybe more than one._

He could tell her again to give in, not to fight. _Make her promise him._ Vengeance whined low in his throat, a keening sound as he imagined the horrors she might go through. His nails sank into the edge of the mattress and shredded it before he noticed what he was doing.

Amber stirred then, her hand instantly reaching up to caress his cheek. He forced himself to relax and go quiet, murmuring soothingly into her ear until she sank back into sleep without coming fully awake.

If Amber went to New Mexico, she'd at least be _alive._ She'd have a chance. Not much of one, but….

He'd risk Species over humans any day. If she stayed here, with Trainor, that was torture, rape and a death sentence. If she went to New Mexico there was hope, no matter how small that in time the NSO would find her. As for him, Vengeance had a feeling he'd die in Russia…but that hardly mattered if he couldn't get her away from Trainor.

How could he get them to take her with the others though? To separate Amber and him? It sounded like the doctor _wanted_ her to go, but was worried about Trainor, and keeping Vengeance calm.

And it came to him then, the only answer. _The obvious one._

For hours, Vengeance lay awake wondering if he was strong enough to do what needed to be done. In the end, he knew he would simply have to be. Because he was strong enough to do _anything_ if meant saving her.

With the sting of tears in his eyes, he rolled over just before dawn, kissing her awake soft and slow. His fingers slid down the soft smoothness of her belly, cupping her sex, teasing her open with his hand as his tongue did the same to her mouth.

She came awake gasping his name, her hands circling her arms as her hips arched into his touch.

"Ven?" Her soft brown eyes were wide and questioning, but he lifted his free hand to his own lips, laying a finger there, warning her to be still.

This was for them, for her. She didn't know it, but this was last time he believed he'd share sex with her. No… _make love._ Vengeance liked that term, because it fit his intentions precisely. He was giving Amber all his love, right here, right now, so there could be no doubt how he felt about her.

She would remember that later. Or so he hoped.

Vengeance took her slowly for the next hour. With his mouth, with his fingers until she was limp, her thighs glistening with her juices. Her wonderful smell imprinted into every cell of his body. When he finally took himself in hand and pushed inside her, her eyes rolled back in her head. Her whole body arched up as he pressed deep, listening to her whisper his name over and over helplessly, her voice raw with pleasure and love.

He soaked himself in that, in the sound and feel of her love until he came so hard, he tumbled her right over the edge with him. Vengeance couldn't stop the howl that tore from his lips.

He didn't care if _they_ heard this time, in this minute, he didn't give a damn about them or what was to come. There was only her. Amber.

 _His mate._ The one Vengeance had tried so hard to find, for _so_ long…

The one he now had to let go.


	12. Chapter 12A

"Take it easy, Brass."

"I can't." Too agitated to sit any longer, Brass got to his feet. It smelled stale in here, muggy and close. Raking a hand through his already tangled, sweaty black hair, he cursed. "We need to get them _out_ of there!" He stabbed a finger at the facility he and Flame were monitoring on various screens scattered around the van.

They were almost ten miles from the site they had determined Amber to be at, or at least that her phone had been at when she texted Brass a week ago. Holed up for almost 12 hours in a small van outfitted with all kinds of gadgets courtesy of Task Force knowledge and New Species money. Late last night, Bestial had snuck in and laid out a bunch of surveillance goodies. A half dozen motion sensors, and two wireless cameras; one regular, one thermal imaging. However, the most useful, and scariest, information the taciturn Species had discovered had been via his nose.

"Explosives," he'd advised Justice over the phone. "I can smell them, along with lots of ammonia. They have the whole place wired to blow."

It was the last piece to fall in a domino effect of bad luck for Amber and Vengeance. First, despite Justice's best intentions, not only had the Task Force _not_ been assembled in an hour, they had been clear across the country…and still _were._ Minutes before Brass and Flame had alerted the NSO leader to the coordinates they'd found, Tim Oberto had gotten the green light on a volatile Gift extraction in DC. The Task Force had been watching the situation for weeks, ready to go at the drop of a hat. The hat had dropped and Tim was already in the air when he went to call Justice—only to have the NSO leader ring him first.

It was a difficult decision all around, but Justice had made the final call. If they abandoned the Gift now, likely they would not get another shot at her. She'd be dead. No one knew the extent of the situation with Amber and Vengeance, so they could only hope a few more hours would not be so pivotal for them.

Justice _had_ considered letting the NSO team itself handle this themselves, but after sending Bestial in for recon, he'd nixed that. It was decided they'd wait for the Task Force.

Best case ETA on that: approximately four fucking hours.

"Goddamn it! They could be _dying_ right now, Flame."

"Soon, Brass. Hold it together, buddy." Flame's own face was strained and pale in the glowing lights as the monitors flickered. The sun was rising, people were moving. _What will this day bring?_ Brass thought, as cold fear tightened his gut.

"Wakey, wakey."

The guard's familiar chortle had Amber groaning. She opened her eyes, feeling tired, but deliciously sated. She didn't know what had gotten into Vengeance last night, but…

For the first time, she realized his heat wasn't at her back. It was always freezing down here, and the lack of his warmth made her shiver as she lifted her head.

A low growl had her lips curving, until something inexplicable in the familiar sound made her insides quiver. She turned to see Ven on the far side of the cage, crouching low to the floor. His nostrils were flared, streaks of blood smeared on his face and arms. Amber shot up.

Those massive shoulders bunched at her sudden movement, his teeth bared in a snarl.

 _"Ven?"_

Her voice made his heart stutter in his chest, but Vengeance couldn't stop now. The guard's eyes were on him, curious and wary, their breakfast tray balanced on his hands. It had to be now, or Amber wouldn't have a shot at all.

Hurting her was the only way he could save her. Ven steeled himself.

 _Forgive me._

Then he lunged.

Amber watched him move, her jaw slack. He wasn't going for the guard, he was leaping for…her. The realization hit her far too late, and even then she wasn't afraid, not really.

His arms encircled her, like living iron, those hot, slick muscles a solid wall, rippling and bunching around her. _So much raw power._ Even in their first encounter, she had never felt this small, this _insignificant_ in his arms. Instinctively, her heart started to race.

He could kill her in an instant. So quickly, so easily, she'd be dead before she'd feel a thing.

 _That's crazy talk._ Ven is not a danger to _me._

Even as his muscles tensed uncomfortably tight around her, it didn't sink in. She refused to let it. Vengeance would _not_ hurt her, he would never…

With a powerful snap, he shoved her away, throwing her face first into the bars. Her head slammed painfully into metal and snapped back. Something hot and wet immediately flowed into her eyes, blinding her. There was an indrawn hiss at her back, but Amber was too dazed to notice. Her fingers reached up as she blinked her vision clear, stunned as she saw them come away, shaking and red with blood.

 _Her blood._ Ven had _hurt_ her. On purpose. He—

The guard's eyes outside the cage widened as he looked from her, to something over her shoulder. There was a crash as he dropped their tray, fingering his shoulder mike with one hand as he reached for his Taser with the other, running at the cage.

"Situation in the bunker!" He screamed. _"Situation—"_

The cameras must have done their work better than him, because already she could hear feet pounding down the hallway. The sound was soon drowned by the snarls growing louder behind her. Amber turned just as Vengeance leapt again. Going to her knees, Amber rolled under him, barely avoiding a swipe from one huge hand. There was a terrific boom as his body hit the bars, the cage shook, but Ven didn't even seem winded as he whirled yet again. He stalked closer, slow and predatory as Amber crawled backwards, crab like. Behind him, she saw Trainor and Dr. Maeng skid into the room, followed closely by two other guards.

Above her, Ven crouched low, forcing her to cower back as his fingers curled into fists.

He growled, viciously enough that she gasped. But she could see the pain in his eyes, for a second it flashed so clearly through the blackness, it nearly tore her in two. Without thought, Amber held her hands out to him.

"What's wrong, Ven?"

He growled again and her hands started to shake, but she wouldn't lower them. "Talk to me. _Please,_ sweetheart!"

"Take him down, now. Before he kills her. _Now,_ you idiots!" The doctor screeched, her voice full of panic and rage.

Two of the guards held Tasers, one a dart gun; while Trainor seemed content to watch, his arms folded loosely over his chest.

"Can't get a shot, doc." Amber heard one of the men mumble, "not without hitting the woman. You okay with that?"

"No! You mustn't hit her, she's far more important than him now—"

Ven straightened as they spoke, almost—Amber thought through the haze of confusion and fear the doctor's odd words had increased—as if he wanted to give them a better target. All that vicious male power loomed over her for a moment, his skin beaded with sweat, his eyes dark. Then he mouthed something, a handful of words, just before the Tasers struck simultaneously.

Her lips parted to scream as he fell, face down on the concrete next to her, his body twitching.

She rolled, putting her hand on the back of his neck. "What did you do, Ven? _What the fuck did you do?"_

Amber pushed frantically, but he was far too heavy for her to roll over. Finally, she managed to get his head turned enough she could see his face, slack and lifeless, his cheek against cold floor.

"Get her out of there, away from him! And if you idiots have killed him, so help me…"

Amber barely heard the doctor, she seemed to have gone numb, all over, but when the hard hands came down, trying to drag her away from Ven, she fought them off violently. Before long, they'd pinned her and were lifting her bodily from the floor.

As the men pulled her away, her eyes stayed glued to Ven, whose skin seemed to pale right in front of her, his lips turning blue.

Those lips that had just soundlessly uttered, "Don't give up. _Ever._ I love you.'

"No!" The screams finally came. Over and over. Reverberating off the concrete and steel as the cage door clanged shut behind her.


	13. Chapter 12B

"Well, at least she finally shut up. I thought the bitch was going to make my ears bleed."

The doctor made a low noise of disgust in the back of her throat as she bandaged Amber's head. "You were worthless in there, Trainor."

"Because I didn't believe it. I still don't. He could have ripped her in two with his bare hands. _I_ could've shoved her into those bars harder than he did. Hell, _Red_ could've."

The stocky guard gave Trainor a quick look before his eyes skittered across the lab, his feet shuffling petulantly. Amber just stared straight ahead, unmindful of the pain as the doctor stitched her up. It was all too much. She couldn't take anymore. Not after _Ven…_

Amber bit her lip to choke back a sob.

"He was _faking."_ Trainor sneered again.

"It doesn't matter, 161's dead." The doctor snapped as she straightened. "A shame, but after what I told you, a loss I am quite prepared to deal with." Her eyes gleamed as she tossed her gloves into the trash. "Miss Keely here is going to be worth a thousand 161's. A million." She laughed delightedly.

"Well, I don't believe _that_ nonsense either."

"Believe in it or not. Science doesn't lie, Trainor. She's pregnant. I repeated the test, once last night and twice this morning."

Amber swayed as the doctor's words hit her all over again. It surely couldn't be true. It just… _couldn't._

"Oh, she might be knocked up alright, but who's to say it isn't the rat's? Or anyone's guess? She spread her legs for ol' 161, god knows what's been filling this bitch's cunt!"

The doctor grimaced. "Watch your mouth, Trainor. I don't care for your language. Of course, you're right, though. That's why I'm doing a paternity test. As we speak."

"Thought those take weeks."

"Oh, the miracles of the modern age, Trainor. We'll know in a couple hours."

Amber already knew. Her last time with Josh was well over six months ago. There'd been no one else but Ven. If the doctor was right, if she was pregnant…

 _It was his._ Blinking, she pressed a shaking hand to her stomach, unable to breathe for the fear that seized her. Not for her, but for her _baby._

The doctor sighed, then gave the blond guard a sideways look. "Did you take care of the body?"

"On it now." As he left, Trainor gave her a cold look, but one that seemed oddly uneasy. Amber's gaze dropped as tears stung her eyes.

 _Oh, Ven._

He came to slowly, excruciatingly. His arms twisted high above his head, his torso stretched to bone-cracking limits. Blinking cooling sweat and blood out of his eyes, Vengeance tried to focus. He was still in the cage, or the room _with_ the cage anyway. He was outside it now, naked again and chained to the ceiling above, a wench keeping tension on his shoulders, his wrists far above his head. His feet were chained as well, fastened to a heavy link buried in the concrete.

"Why, 'allo there, 161. Nice of you to join us." _Trainor._ But he had more important things on his mind.

Amber.

Ven looked around as best he could, though he could barely move his head an inch without agony ripping through his taut muscles. Amber was nowhere in sight. Relief and fear hit him with one hard blow. She was gone. But _where_ had she gone?

His eyes fell back on Trainor, who smiled as if he could sense Vengeance's unspoken question. There was a brittleness to that smile. Something almost like…fear. _What was going on?_

"Looking for your bitch?" The sadistic guard asked idly, trailing his nightstick on the outside of the empty cage.

His spine knotted, but Ven made his face savage, uncaring. Willing his eyes filled with nothing but mindless rage.

Trainor gave a soft, knowing laugh. "Loved the act, by the way. She needed stitches, you brute. Bet that fucks with you, huh?" His eyes narrowed as he moved in closer. "I know how soft-hearted you beasts are about your precious females." Ven refused to react, though his gut churned anew at the thought of the pain he'd caused Amber. But he pushed it aside. No matter what, if she had a chance it was worth it, worth it—

"Looks like she led you around by your dick though." Tranior's eyes darted down at Ven's heavy nakedness and sneered. "She's knocked up, and we both know it can't be _yours,_ now don't we, 161?"

For a moment the words didn't sink in. Knocked up? _Amber?_

 _Amber was pregnant._ Forgetting himself entirely, Ven's jaw went slack.

Trainor smiled. "That's right. Your little bitch is preggers. Doc finally hit the jackpot. She's doing a happy dance all around the damn lab. Check it out."

Vengeance blinked down at the phone the guard held up to his face. Amber sat on a gurney, looking shell-shocked and incredibly small in a hospital dressing down. He couldn't tell if she was horrified or just scared to death. Maybe both? Could this really be true or was it just another head game? He watched her hand lower to her flat stomach, pressing in as if she cradled something precious there, her eyes spilling over. _No._

His own eyes lifted to Trainor's amused ones as the guard tapped the phone again to make it go black.

"I like to keep tabs on the good doctor. She hasn't a clue, of course. Dumb bitch, for all her degrees."

Vengeance couldn't shake that image of Amber…that hand against her tummy. If Amber was pregnant, it was his. He didn't know how, but it _was._ His mate, his _child._ The need to go to them both overwhelmed him, nearly driving him insane.

"Let me go to her, damnit. Let me take care of her!" He shook the chains, unmindful of his flesh tearing, the blood dripping down his arms. " _They need me!"_

Trainor laughed. And laughed. Drawing the nightstick slowly across the bars as he turned his back on Vengeance, each ring buzzing deep into Ven's head. Clink. Laugh.

Clink.

 _Laugh._

"I knew it," Trainor whispered. "I knew it was a damn act. Clever little doggie, aren't you? You wanted to get her away from me, didn't you? Get her sent her to New Mexico. Too late for that now, though."

Ven growled menacingly, but the guard turned with an evil grin. "Nope. There is no way in hell the Doc would've let you within spitting distance of her. Even if she did know you're alive, which she _doesn't._ "

He laughed again as Ven's eyebrows drew together. _What the hell was Trainor up to?_

"Your little bitch just might become the most important science experiment in the world, you know. They're _never_ letting her go now. She won't be headed to New Mexico. She's being flown out top secret. _Tonight._ I have no idea where they're taking her. You'll never see her again, 161, or whatever spawn comes out of her."

Frantic, Ven threw himself into the chains again with an ear-splitting howl.

Almost negligently, but with stunning power, Trainor slammed his elbow into Ven's stomach, cutting off the sound and taking all his air. Ven slumped in the chains, gasping, but only for a second. Despite the pain, he forced himself to straighten, staring down at the guard. "I'll kill you yet, Trainor," he promised, his voice a hollow rasp.

The guard shook his head with a snort. "No, you won't, 161. _You'll_ be the one to die here. _Eventually._ I can't believe you really think that brat is yours." Something flickered in his eyes, something mad and vile and dark. "Stupid animal. _You're wrong._ You're all fucking wrong!"

With a sudden lurch, Trainor ran forward, jabbing that nightstick savagely into his balls, the pain immediate and gut wrenching.

Ven's joints screamed as his body tried instinctively to draw his limbs in, stopped short by the chains. Metal and bone creaked. Trainor's voice was cold in his ear as the guard twisted the stick. Waves of pain and nausea threatened to make Ven black out.

"I'm gonna neuter you before I kill you, 161. All the cameras are off. Even your bitch thinks you're dead, the poor thing. No Russia for you, just _me._ And it just so happens I got a couple hours…to kill."


	14. Chapter 13

Over an hour later, Vengeance hung from the chains, his body slack and covered with sweat. He was riddled with oozing cuts of various lengths and depths. All of them burned. A splatter pattern of blood extended in a diffused circle on the concrete around him. The night stick lay broken at his chained feet. He knew without a doubt he had more broken ribs than whole ones, and he thought he'd felt something deep inside him rupture several minutes ago. Trainor had gone to the sink in the wall not long after that, dunking his head in a basin full of cold water. Now the guard leaned back, scrubbing his short blonde hair as he stretched.

Apparently, torture was hard work. That was good sarcasm, Ven thought blurrily. Amber would like that one. Or maybe not. The thought of her made him yearn to break free, but he had almost given up hope. _Almost_. He knew it was just pure stubbornness on his part. Trainor was going to kill him.

Soon.

The guard hadn't made good on his threat to take Vengeance's balls, not yet. Probably due to the danger of Ven bleeding out before Trainor could have his fun. There seem to be something frantic in the way the guard had gone at him, that edge of fear that Ven had sensed earlier. He could smell it even now, over the stink of his own abused body. His nostrils flared as the guard turned away from the sink, opening his knife again.

"Why are you so scared, Trainor?" His mouth was so dry he could barely form the words, but Ven managed to work up enough spit to get them past his cracked lips. "And don't bother to lie, I can smell it on you."

The guard froze, eyeing Vengeance from across the room. The silence stretched into something heavy and alive, twisting between the two of them, hungry for the first sign of weakness.

"Doesn't matter," Trainor finally whispered. "I got it handled, one way or the other." He moved toward Ven. He'd removed his shirt and shoes, not wanting to stain them with Vengeance's blood. "It's time to finish this, 161."

His vision perfect in the underground gloom, Vengeance saw the blade wink as it came toward him, dipping lower. There was no pointing in moving, he couldn't get away. He just lifted his chin and thought of Amber.

"Task Force landing in 30 minutes. They got the Gift en route to Homeland with Jessie."

Brass was glad to hear the female was safe, but he was about ready to climb out of his skin. "Any idea on how we're gonna get in there?"

"Nada. Bestial does though, he's running it by Justice and Tim via conference call right now."

"Sure hope it's a good one." Brass's knuckles whitened as the monitors indicated a slight uptick in activity. He couldn't help feeling that every minute that went by, was a minute closer to too _late._ Too late.

Amber stared as the doctor literally bounced across the lab. _Looks like the results are in._

She knew she needed to focus on a way to get out of here, to save her baby from what was certain to be hell, but the loss of Vengeance had crushed her. With every breath, like a weight on her lungs, it threatened to cave her in. Thoughts of him flashed behing her eyes every time she blinked.

Being nestled against him as they watched the foxes. His growly voice. _What is Ewoks?_ The sweet, disastrous picnic, curled up on the couch in the cabin, watching Star Wars over and over, making love in the river and everywhere else. Even here, in this hellhole, memories of teaching him the in's and out's of sarcasm to combat the fear and horror. To thumb their noses at their captors. Him tucked against her at night, keeping her warm.

She loved him. And she was _so_ furious at him for leaving her alone.

Not completely alone, though. This baby was him, living inside her. Tears burned her eyes again, but she swallowed them back. Straightening, she saw Trainor dart into the room, looking rumpled and edgy. Somehow she had to find a way to protect Ven's baby from him, from all of them. _No matter what._

"What did you find out, woman?" The guard snapped it at the doctor, his eyes positively wild. Amber felt a surge of unease as she looked at him. He was barefoot, and something dark streaked his pants. Trainor's presence always made her apprehensive, but right now he absolutely alarming. The doctor, in the throes of her discovery, was oblivious.

"How does it feel to be wrong, Trainor?" She sang out, her dark hair fanning against the white lab coat as she held out the paternity test. "Highest PI possible! That is _definitely_ 161's baby inside her."

For a second, Trainor just stared at the paper, his light blue eyes going oddly, and disturbingly, blank. Maeng whirled away, laughing, but Amber kept her gaze on the guard. His fist tightened, crumbling the paper. "No," his voice was very low, so low Amber had to lean forward to catch his next words. "They can't breed. They _can't."_

"What was that?" Maeng snatched the paper out of Trainor's fist, smoothing it carefully. "I need to frame this," she muttered to herself, already forgetting the guard as she turned her back and walked away. Trance-like, Trainor watched her go, then started to follow.

"It can't be allowed." He muttered, pulling something from his pocket, something that gleamed. Amber opened her mouth as the knife emerged, as he flicked it open, but something held her quiet and still. Trainor struck, his hand yanking the doctor back by the hair, and while his other hand came up in a swift, slicing motion…Amber ran.

Even as she heard the sickening gurgle of the doctor she hated, even as the heavy, wet fall of blood fell like a warm summer's rain on the linoleum…Amber ran.

Faster than she'd ever run, even when she'd pushed herself to keep up with Ven on those trails at Homeland. She didn't know where she was going, or if there was a chance in hell of getting free, but she ran anyway. As hard and fast as she could.

Ven roused himself at the sound of running footsteps. Trainor's phone had gone off earlier, and inexplicably the guard had pulled it from his pocket as if he'd been waiting for something.

His face had gone white. Without a word, he'd tucked his knife away and grabbed his shirt before tossing the keys to Ven's chains absently on the sink. Then he'd disappeared. He must be coming back now.

When Amber's long braid whipped by outside the door, it was so surreal, Ven could only blink. Seconds later, though, he howled. So long and loud he could feel the sound reverberating through the tunnels, reaching out almost like a living thing.

After he was done, total silence. The footsteps had stopped. He couldn't hear a thing over his heart pounding, but…what was that smell? He breathed deep, though inflating his lungs hurt like fuck all. That smell could almost heal him from the inside out. _Her smell._

"Amber?" He called, softly. Knowing she was out there, but not why she wasn't coming to him. Then she was just there, staring at him from the doorway like a wraith. He remembered what Trainor had said about her thinking he was dead. "It's me, sweetheart. I know I don't look it, but I _am_ fine. I swear it. The keys are on the sink. Come to me, Amber. _Hurry!"_

Her face was splattered like with what looked like freckles, but his Amber had no freckles. _Blood._

Anger stirred inside of him. "Amber, are you hurt?"

His voice was so low and scratchy, he started to doubt she could understand him at all. She just continued to look at him blankly. He didn't know if she even saw the chains, or his wounds, or had heard what he said about the keys.

Then she swayed.

"Amber!" He roared.

"Don't worry, I got her." From the other side of the doorway, Trainor smiled like a cat contemplating a bowl of cream as he scooped Amber into his arms and waltzed inside.

"Clear…clear…CLEAR!"

"Where the fuck _are_ they?" Brass whipped his mask off his face, slamming a fist into three foot thick cement wall.

Bestial's idea had been one for the history books. He'd noted the vents coming out of the underground facility. It had been a fairly simply matter for him to slip in, alone, and throw several canisters of tear gas into the works. Guards had rushed out, and Species had gathered them up like so many fish in a net, then streaked into the facility, level by level. Nearly two dozen floors, no sign of Amber or Ven.

They had found a dozen human women, all by turns terrified and overjoyed to see them. And three male Species, who had been shocked when the NSO team's masks had come off. They were being lead to the surface now, having already been asked about a human woman with a long braid and a big, bald Species, possibly being held alone or together. None of them had been any help.

Being rounded into a tighter circler with considerable less care than had been shown the women or the Species, the group of scientists and guards looked to a man as if they wanted to faint or puke. Brass stepped forward, desperate. "You heard what we asked them, have any of you seen or heard of a human female or Species fitting those descriptions?"

Some heads shook automatically, some jaws tightened, a few foolishly brave or utterly stupid guards spat on the floor, but after a moment, one skinny man in a lab coat raised his hand and moved forward.

"Well?" Brass snapped, when the man had made his way to the front of the circle.

The pale, almost sickly-looking man stared at Brass with cold eyes. The way a cruel boy might look at an ant before he aims a magnifying glass on it. "I don't want to go to prison," he said. "Not at _all."_

Brass shrugged. "I'm not sure I can make that happen. It depends on what you've done."

"Oh, he's done plenty." One of the Species who was still waiting for the elevator had turned back around, and was eyeing Brass and the man, who looked more like a gangly teenager than an evil scientist. The New Species was nearly seven feet tall, with red hair like Flame's, only much darker, longer and wilder. He towered over the man, who cowered back when he approached.

"Easy," Brass lifted a hand, saying softly to the Species, so softly the human couldn't hear. "I need information. I'm trying to find my friend and his mate."

The Species frowned. "Your friend has damn strange tastes if his mate is a _human._ " He spit on the floor, then looked from Brass to the man in the lab coat, who had started to shake. "I can make him talk. I promise you."

Brass opened his mouth, but behind him Tiger lifted a quieting finger. Tiger was in charge, if he was good with this, Brass was good.

"Okay then." Brass stepped aside. Immediately the man tried to force his way back into the crowd of his peers, all of whom gleefully shoved right out at the approaching Species.

"What's wrong, Technician Russell? Not so brave when I'm not strapped down to a table, are you?" He grabbed the man by the back of the neck with one enormous hand and picked him up bodily. Then the auburn-haired Species ripped off his lab coat, shredding it bit by bit, until strips fell to the ground like weird clumps of snow. "I can tear your flesh off as easily, where should we start?" The man was being held a good foot off the floor, so everyone in the room heard when his bladder let go.

"Get him off me!" Technician Russell was crying, actually _crying._

"Tell me everything, or I let him start ripping," Brass said, without a trace of any emotion, other than disgust. The Species shook him slightly, like a big cat with a toy, and one claw flashed, slicing his shirt from collar to bellybutton. Quivering white flesh emerged as the pieces peeled apart and fell to the sides. Gasping with terror, the man started to speak, very fast.

"Okay, okay. I don't know where they are, or if they are even here. I swear it! I've never seen anyone matching those descriptions. But I do know there is a bunker, below level 23, restricted access. I think Dr. Maeng's been working on a special project down there."

"Who has restricted access?"

"Not me." The man whimpered and the Species dropped him into the pool of his own piss.

"Too easy," He muttered at Brass as he eyed the crowd. "That one." He pointed out a gray haired man trying to hide behind several others. "I have heard him talk about restricted places. Bragging about how high up he is in their rankings."

Brass didn't have a lot of time for gratitude, but he grabbed the Species' arm as he turned back to join his fellows. "Thank you." He said fervently.

The Species nodded slowly, looking down at Brass's hand. "You say you have given me freedom now. I am not sure I believe that yet, but I hope you find your crazy friend."

"Me, too." Brass muttered as he watched part of Tim's team led forward the man that had been pointed out. "Now, do we do this the hard way or the easy way?"

The man took a lanyard from around his neck with shaking fingers. "Swipe this, the code is Mengale1911."

Brass gave a hard smile as he took the card. "Keep him here, away from the others. Just so you can find him quickly if something goes wrong. Who's coming with me?"

Tiger, Fury and Flame moved to him immediately, plus two humans from Tim's team. The rest would stay to supervise the extraction of the Species and the women, and the transportation of the prisoners. Brass and the others headed down. The refrain that had been pounding in his head all day followed him into the descending elevator, going faster and faster as the minutes ticked by.

 _Too late, too late._


	15. Chapter 15

Ven strained for the door where Trainor held Amber, his joints popping with the effort. Hours of torture had wreaked havoc on his strength, but pain was ruthlessly shoved aside as every instinct screamed at him to save his mate… _and his baby_. Again and again, Ven threw himself to the limits as flesh tore and bone cracked, but it was useless. The chains were winched too tight to get any momentum, his range of movement so restricted he was only hurting himself…and getting nowhere. Sweat and blood slicked his skin, the stench of his own fear choking him. Not fear for himself, but for them.

The look on Trainor's face was one of maniacal glee as he set Amber on her feet, his fist twisted tightly into her braid so she could neither get away or collapse.

"You won't get free this time, 161. I'm gonna break you at last." His blue eyes shone as he yanked Amber's head back, running his tongue obscenely over her throat. She didn't react, her face still blank and pale. Even when Trainor cupped one breast and squeezed hard, Amber remained motionless.

Terror seeped cold into Ven's belly. His Amber was nothing if not a fighter, but she appeared to have gone far away.

 _Perhaps that's best,_ Ven thought, twisting in the chains, the fiery agony in his body nothing to the kind slicing into his heart and mind. Trainor was right, he may not survive this without breaking. If he were forced to watch his mate being raped…gorge rose into his throat and he envied Amber her ability to blank out.

Trainor grinned again, as if reading his mind. Pulling his knife one handed, he raised it up.

"You know what's coming, beast boy, don't ya? I'm gonna use your woman—thoroughly—while you just hang there and watch. Then I'm gonna kill what's growing inside her, before I slit her throat. But first, let's set the scene, shall we? A little strip show…" With one downward slash, Trainor sliced through the paper thin scrubs Amber wore. They hadn't allowed her a bra and the gaping material bared her silky skin and full breasts. Trainor looked down, his smile widening. "This is gonna be so much fun, 161. Aren't you excited? I'm excited." He rubbed his hips into Amber's backside, who merely swayed with the sickening movement, her face a mask.

Ven's howl ricocheted off the concrete walls; such a desperate, gut-wrenching sound even Trainor winced. "Shut the fuck—"

There was a boom from somewhere down the hall, like a heavy steel door being thrown wide and crashing into a wall. Then the murmur of voices, but before Ven could place them, his nostrils flared. _Species!_

With the surge of relief came an instant, overwhelming terror. "Let her go, Trainor, _now!_ You may still live, just let her—"

Trainor had frozen at the sounds and now he stared at the door, eyes wide. "No, but that's not… _it can't be…"_ The guard's face had gone pale as watery milk. His knife hand went lax, dropping slowly. His heart thundering, Ven caught a flash of awareness in Amber's eyes. _Oh god, no, no…baby, please be careful!_

"It is. Let her go!"

"No. I—"

Amber twisted before Trainor could tighten his grip again. With one hard slap she knocked the knife from his hand, sending it skittering over the floor, near Ven's chained feet. Time seemed to slow; the sound of rushing feet and yelling voices became distorted, the very air thickening as Ven watched helplessly.

Trainor cursed once as he watched the knife sail away. Ven saw his lips move, but didn't hear the sound. He was focused on the man's hand, watching it curl into a fist, that sinewy arm flexing as the guard took a step forward, striking out. Amber tried to dodge, but her feet slipped out from under her, throwing her straight into the blow.

A masked face appeared in the open doorway. Amber opened her mouth just as Trainor's fist caught her right under her ribs. Her scream switched to a muffled _oomph_ as her body flew backwards like a rag doll, slamming into the bare floor. She slid to a stop against the far wall, her eyes wide with shock. Trainor ran, shoving past the figure in the doorway, who let him go. Ven roared in rage, but heard the sound of shouts and more footsteps. Trainor would not get far.

Ripping off the mask, Brass's face was exposed as he ran for Amber, who waved him away. "No," she breathed, _"Ven_ …keys…sink."

In two short bounds, Brass had the keys in his fist, then was at Vengeance's side. "Holy shit. _Ven."_ His eyes widened and then blazed as he took in the extent of Vengeance's injuries.

"Never mind that. Get. Me. _Loose."_ Ven's gaze stayed locked on Amber, who hadn't moved, her face going whiter by the second.

Brass bent and released his feet first. Carefully, Vengeance flexed them, then shifted an inch or two. Fire blazed from his hips to his toes as he took his own weight again. He ignored it.

"The rest," he gritted.

"Okay, Ven, but you're going to collapse. We both know it." His voice soft, so as not to alarm Amber, Brass met Ven's eyes. "I'll help you down as best I can. You're a big son of a bitch, so take it easy on me." Stepping closer, Brass placed his shoulder firmly against Ven's chest. Their eyes locked and Ven gave a grim nod. Brass stretched to open the cuffs on Ven's raw and bleeding wrists, the chains rattling as they swing free.

The release of tension and support hit him almost as one; ecstasy followed by an awful, blinding pain that ripped through his shoulders and torso as his arms lowered. Ven's over-taxed body spasmed violently, throwing him forward. He crashed into Brass, who had braced for this, but was still rocked to his heels. Ven's broken ribs screamed, but somehow he forced himself to keep his feet with Brass's help. When he was more or less stable he pushed his friend aside, going to straight to his mate. Each step felt like he was walking on shards of glass, his hips ached and his shoulders were a white-hot blaze of pain. He didn't care. _Amber._

She didn't tilt her head up, but Ven could see her lips curve as his shadow fell over her. "Took..you long… enough." Her hand was cradled to her stomach, her breath coming short and fast.

 _"Amber._ " He moved to kneel, but she lifted a hand.

"No! We're fine here…I…promise, sweetheart. You have…to get…Trainor. End it. It _has_ to be you, Ven. Just…getting my breath back is all." She finally raised her face, and he cupped it with one shaking hand. For a moment, she leaned into him, her eyes fluttering. Then she straightened, her voice growing stronger. "Now, Ven. _Get_ him."

Something stirred inside him, some dark fear at the shuttered look on her face, a smell…but it was hard to be certain of anything; the air was so redolent with pain, sweat, blood and misery.

And there was that overwhelming urge to do exactly as she bade, to chase Trainor down and rip him apart. His lips drew back from his teeth, his hands curling into claws and Ven snarled at the thought of Trainor escaping… _surviving._

No. Never again would that filth have the chance to threaten him and his.

Vengeance had not thought Amber so bloodthirsty, but the beast inside him approved. Tear, rip… _shred_ that evil human. _Dared to put hands on my mate._ The need for retribution—for annihilation rose like a tidal wave inside him, surging bright; drowning that dark, quiet voice that said _stay._

Ven kissed the top of her head. "I'll be back soon." He shot a look at Brass, who nodded, rubbing his chest as he walked forward.

"I won't leave her side, Ven. I swear it."

Brass's eye tracked Ven as he left, then turned to Amber. She could see the line deepen between his brows and despite the pain inside her, she smiled. "I've confused you."

"I told him you _got_ New Species, but I didn't realize how much."

She shrugged. "If he isn't the one to kill that bastard, it will haunt him forever. He needs this. To finish it." _I need him to finish it. Especially now._ A tremor rippled through her, and she gritted her teeth to hold back a sob.

"I thought most human females would force their male to stay with them after what you two must have been through. They would want their mate by their side." Brass wasn't being critical, he _was_ confused…and a little in awe, but he cursed himself when tears glittered in her eyes.

"Oh, I do…want him… _so much_ , but he can't see…this." Her head fell back against the concrete wall, as if she were too weak to hold it up anymore.

"See what, Amber?" His alarm increasing, Brass knelt down quickly. Already weak, her voice had gone as insubstantial as a wisp of smoke. Something else distracted him before she could answer. His eyes fell to the floor.

Instead of feeling cold and hard, the concrete just felt hard against his knees…and _warm._ Wet.

A pool of blood was slowly widening, thick and bright, between Amber's legs. He raised horrified eyes to find her staring at him as she started to slide sideways, her eyes closing.

"See me… losing… our… _baby."_

When Vengeance stalked out into the hall, he went straight to the knot of males at the far end. Tiger stepped out to met him. "Ven," he reached forward in obvious relief, then stopped short as his eyes took in Ven's abused body. "Son of a bitch. We need to get you upstairs. Dr. Ally is there with some of the nurses—"

"No, have them see to Amber. She's pregnant. It is mine." Tiger's eyes widened, but not quite in the amount of shock and disbelief Ven expected. His own eyes narrowed. "You are not surprised enough. We will speak of this later. Now, the human who ran out of here…

"He's a rat in a trap, Vengeance, there is no way out of this bunker except the way we came in. I just don't fancy risking the guys in this maze, so we were waiting for gas. The guard will know the schematics and may have weapons at his disposal."

"I do not care and I will _not_ wait." His eyes flicked to the security officer for one beat, understanding immediate between them. "He does not walk out of here, Tiger."

Tiger squeezed his arm, then waved the others back down the hall. "Leave it. Ven's got this one."

"But the prisoner…" This from one of the humans. Trey, their commanding officer took one look at Ven's face, down his wounded frame and back up. His lips tightened.

"What prisoner? Move out, men." They trotted down the hall, leaving Tiger and Ven alone.

"You want a weapon?" Ven sneered at Tiger's proffered 9mm, but the Species didn't lower his arm. "He won't hesitate to use one on you, Ven, and there may be many things down here; automatic rifles and worse, who the hell knows. Take it."

With a snarl, Vengeance took the gun and without another word loped naked down the hall.

He scented Trainor at the juncture of two narrow cement tunnels lit by flickering fluorescents. It was grower colder, wetter and the rank smell of stagnant water was everywhere. The man's unique scent was clear though, and the sharp bite of his fear.

Drawing his teeth back, Ven snarled over the faint, steady dripping and buzz of the lights.

 _Left._

~~Sorry it's been so long. Computer issues. Expecting we will hit the end this week. Thanks for reading and commenting, everyone!~~~


	16. Chapter 16

He looked at the deep bend ahead warily. The tunnel may have seemed quiet to a human, but to Ven it was loud; tired florescents buzzed erratically, there was the whirl and moan of the air system, the rattling now and then of pipes, water dripping…and a whisper of movement ahead…a carefully let-out breath…

The Taser prongs flew with a hiss, but Ven had already dropped to the ground. Rolling, he grunted with anger and pain, his broken ribs stabbing his flesh from the inside out. Ven gained his feet in time to see Trainor spin down a right hand tunnel, the Taser discarded behind him.

 _That is right, flee!_

Letting loose a howl that echoed eerily down the snaking tunnels, Ven gave chase.

It didn't last long. In seconds, Vengeance was close enough to reach out and slap Trainor sideways into a curving wall. The man's head bounced off the cement. Blood flew and Trainor staggered, but kept his feet. He turned to reveal a gun in his hand, held low down, but Ven was already throwing the one Tiger had given him. It hit Trainor smack between the eyes. His chin flew up, nerveless fingers dropping the automatic with a clatter.

Trainor blinked dazedly as Ven approached. Those cruel blue eyes blank for a moment, then filling with a brittle fear. He tried a laugh, but it sounded more like a croak.

"You gonna earn that name you took? Your dream come true at last, eh, 161?"

"You…have _nothing_ to do with my dreams. Not anymore." With one swipe, Ven sliced his claws through Trainor's throat.

He watched coldly as the man dropped to his knees in the black water. The guard gurgled once, then keeled over face first. In a very short time he was utterly still. Ven felt no sense of resolution or peace—Amber had already given him peace and there could never be resolution for the things Trainor had done—but there was a grim satisfaction that it was over.

 _At last._

He knew as New Species he would always have enemies, always need to vigilant, but at least _this_ threat was gone forever. And he _would_ protect his little family from any others.

 _Family._ Though the haze of pain descending as his adrenaline receded, Ven's cracked lips curved. _Baby._ Something in his heart clenched, similar to his feelings for Amber, but different, new. Good.

 _Right._ To see his young play in the sun like those foxes. _Ewoks._ He rubbed a shaky hand over his face. He needed to get back, he was perilously close to losing consciousness.

Without a backwards glance, leaving Trainor were he lay. Ven loped slowly back up the maze of tunnels, his injuries starting to take their toll; his vision winking in and out, his eyes aching in the strobing lights. Breathing hurt more with every step.

The tinge of unease he'd felt earlier was growing. When he heard his name shouted up ahead, he forced the pain aside yet again and somehow pushed himself to a run. His bare feet slapped against the slickened cement as Tiger's voice became clearer. They nearly collided as Ven turned one last bend.

For a second at the sight of him, Tiger froze. As if even though he'd been shouting so urgently moments before, he now didn't want to relay the reason for that urgency. He opened his mouth, closed it. Then shook his head as the fear inside Vengeance started to grow. "It's…Amber, Ven. I'm so goddamn sorry, man, but they just took her to Medical via the chopper."

He reeled at the sorrow that saturated the other male's tone, but slapped one hand against the curve of the wall to stay upright. "Why, Tiger? What is wrong with her…what…"

Tiger swallowed, his eyes falling to the tunnel floor, only to come back to Ven's with a seemingly great effort. "Dr. Ally says…Amber's having a miscarriage, Ven. There's no chance for the baby. We were too late. I—"

Without a word, Ven dropped to his knees, the resulting crash like an earthquake in the narrow tunnel. The bright warmth he'd felt only minutes before snuffed out like a candle. Then a new terror grew inside of him, clawing so deep he could barely force out the words. "And Amber? Tiger… _please!"_

The other Species shook his head slowly, his face agonized. "She started losing blood so fast, Ven. So much of it. I don't know…

Concrete cracked as Ven slammed his hands down, dark lines spider webbing and growing up the walls as he sprang to his feet. Technicolor lights bloomed, obscuring the edges of his vision, eating it away like a burning film.

 _Must go to Amber, must stay…._

Amber was drifting. Drifting was good. It was grey and lifeless, but free of thought, which brought pain. She was tired of pain.

The voice was trying to tear through the cottony haze, to bring her back to consciousness, and that goddawful pain. _How could it be so cruel?_

"Leave me alone," she whispered. "Don't want… _you."_

The howl that followed her words tore at her heart, but…she didn't want to know why. Didn't want to care. No.

She just wanted to…. _drift away._

"Did I…was it me that made her lose the baby?"

The whispered words were so agonized, Trisha felt tears spring to her eyes as she stared across her desk at Vengeance. After a week of Amber being touch and go in the hospital, he was almost unrecognizable. He'd tried several times to comfort her, but Amber always pushed him away. "I hurt her, when we were in the cage. To make them take her from me. _I hit her._ Did I kill our baby?"

"Jesus, Vengeance. I know you didn't _hit_ her. I've seen the tapes You shoved her. As carefully as you could. _No._ For the hundredth time, I can tell you honestly, _no._ It wasn't even the guard punching her that did it, and I know from what Brass said that was far more viscous than anything you could've ever forced yourself to do. I've told you, it was an ectopic pregnancy. Because of New Species elevated gestation rates, it just happened very fast, Ven. It's _not_ your fault."

"What about stress? I made her stressed when I made them take her away. They made her think I was dead! I—

"Quit this. Now." _Before I start bawling._ "I know you understand what I have told you. Repeatedly. You are a very smart male, Ven. I also know you've researched on your own in the library. If you need to blame someone for what happened, blame Mercile. Trainor. Dr. Maeng. Blame that crazy ex of Amber's that sold you both out to them. But don't blame yourself. _Not ever._ You hear me? You were trying to save the woman you love's life. You'd no idea a baby was even _possible._ That was our fault. I should have made _sure_ you knew. For that you can blame _me,_ or Justice, Fury, Tiger; _any of us_ for not telling you when we told the others." She swallowed hard. "Amber is going to be fine, Vengeance. Physically, there should be no significant medical issues. She _may_ have some increased risk of another ectopic pregnancy, but I think that is low. With me monitoring her….there is no reason she can't have more babies someday."

"Not my babies." Vengeance said softly. "She doesn't want me anymore."

Trisha blinked, putting her hand carefully on the Species' bowed head. "Vengeance. She has said lots of things. She's heavily drugged, in pain and denial. Give her time. That's all you can do right now. She loves you." Trisha hadn't told Ven, but Amber had told her she started cramping immediately after seeing Trainor kill the doctor. Amber had thought it was from her running away, that she had triggered the miscarriage that way. But the pregnancy had simply never been meant to be. No one's fault. Just fate. "You need to be ready when she is able to show that love again."

"No. She _loved_ me. Now it's dead. Just like our baby." He shook off her hand and got to his feet, slowly. With none of his usual grace, as if he'd been beaten head to toe…but his injuries had healed days ago. The external ones, anyway.

Trisha dashed away tears with the back of her hand as she watched Ven go. Then she straightened, steel hardening her resolve. It may be cruel, but she was going to have a talk with Amber.

"You _have_ to talk to Vengeance. Amber. This is killing him."

Amber plucked at the bedsheet, her hands trembling and pale. The sight of her weakness made her feel worse, or it would've, if worse were possible.

"I'm not strong enough." She said, hating the sound of her own whiny voice. And therein was her fucking problem, Amber thought, ignoring the fierce little doctor staring at her, obviously struggling between sympathy and fury.

Amber had always, _always_ known she was strong. And she was proud of that knowledge. Maybe too much. She loved handling things, taking care of herself, getting it all damn well _done_ , whatever _it_ had been at the moment.

When Josh had attacked, she's struck back, both times. She also hadn't backed down with Ven, or when Brass and the others had tried to take him away from her. Fighting back, standing up for herself, that was her nature.

Even in the cage, when Ven had been her primary source of strength, she'd still cracked jokes, keeping her chin up, though she'd damn well been scared shitless.

But she hadn't been able to bear a gift that most woman handled with ease. She felt…betrayed. By her body, and her mind. _Weakling._

Nightmares of that place plagued her, of being back in the cage. Or worse, outside of it, watching Ven hang from those chains, except this time he really was dead. Amber shuddered.

She _longed_ for Ven's warmth at her back, both in and out of the nightmares, but he wasn't here. She'd seen to that.

The look in his eyes, if she saw that look there…. It would break her. She was too much of a wimp to face what she _knew_ she'd see there. Because she felt it everyday.

Pain, loss, _disappointment._ Vengeance had longed for a mate, family…and he'd been so close. She'd seen the wonder in his face when Trainor's words had sunk in, and the instant acceptance and joy he couldn't hide.

 _All gone._ She wasn't worthy to be his mate.

"Go away, Trisha. I can't deal. A little longer."

"If you keep pushing, he might actually leave, did you ever think of that?"

For a moment, fear snaked into her belly, icy cold and wet. But fear and all its nasty companions lived there now, replacing the precious life that had graced her for so short a time. When Trisha finally walked out, Amber curled back into her pillow, shutting it all out.

 _Again._

"When are they gonna release Amber?" Brass and Vengeance had taking up playing pool. Neither was particularly good at it, but they hoped someday to beat Flame. He was far too cocky about his game for everyone's taste. Or rather that's what Brass was aiming for. Ven, as everyone knew, was just killing time.

Vengeance blew his shot, sending a stripe arching over the table straight for the window to numerous groans. Jericho whipped out a hand and caught it inches before it struck the glass. He tossed the ball back on the table with a weary glare from those eerie reddish eyes. Everyone was sick of Vengeance breaking windows, but they all felt too sorry for him to do anything about it.

Ven ignored Jericho's look, turning back to Brass. "Tonight. As you very well know," he growled.

Brass set up his own shot, his eyes narrowing. "And you're here, playing pool."

"She wants to be left alone."

"What about what she _needs?"_

"She doesn't need me." Once he had thought that, treasured the idea of her being his. He'd been stupid. All he had done was destroy a bright, strong woman. Vengeance knew she blamed him, for everything. How could she not? "I'm going to Reservation, next week. Torrent said he'll show me all he knows about the animals so I can train with the vet Justice is hiring, too. He doesn't want to move to the new place when its ready, but I do."

No one was more surprised than Brass when he sunk the tricky bank shot. His smile dimmed though, when he looked up at his friend. "You're stupid."

Ven didn't even growl at the insult. "She needs a better male than me." The words stuck in his throat and twisted his stomach into hard knots.

"Really?"

"Yes!"

With an impatient look, Brass threw his pool stick on the table. "You know what? You're right, Vengeance. _How about me?_ I'm a good male. Better for her than you, right? I will take care of her, in every way. Tell me, is her skin as soft as it looks? Never mind, I will find out for my—"

Ven lunged across the table, balls went flying, cracking against the floor and walls, a window shattered. Jericho cursed.

Brass responded so instantly to Ven's attack it was obvious he'd incited it. He threw Ven to the floor with a hip roll that sent the bigger Species flying across the room.

When Ven got to his hands and knees shaking his head, about to charge again, Brass was staring at him with hard eyes.

"Go get your female, you idiot."

Vengeance straightened, feeling like he'd just been doused with a bucket of ice water. _Brass was right._

What the fuck was he doing? Was he so lost in misery that he'd forgotten what was worth fighting for? Just because Amber had lost her way didn't mean he couldn't carry her, whether she wanted him to or not. Even if he had to drag her kicking and screaming back from the edge, he needed to do it. They'd lost so much, he'd be damned if they'd lose each other.

She was _his._

"Are you going to talk to him today?" Breeze was pushing Amber's wheelchair to the hospital doors, past the line of chairs in the waiting area. That same waiting area she and Vengeance had sat in waiting to go to Reservation. A faint smile curved her lips at the memory. Back then she'd felt like she was headed to her very own version of heaven; contemplating days and days alone with Vengeance. Now, after enduring hell, the thought of being alone with him for five minutes utterly terrified her.

Amber bit her lip. She'd talked to Dr. Joy this week. Sneaky Trisha had sicced the shrink on her, but Amber had to admit, she'd needed it. She wasn't herself. Amber really didn't know if she'd ever be her old self again, not completely. But that was okay. Maybe not okay quite _yet,_ but it would be.

 _If_ she could make things right with the male she loved so much.

"I hurt him."

Breeze snorted. _"You_ were hurting. It's what wounded creatures do. Vengeance will get that better than most, Amber. And he's male, he can take it. Stop being chicken. I should just roll you down to his house, you know. Save us all…well, guess someone else had the same idea."

At Breeze's words, Amber's head jerked up.

Vengeance was outside, stalking toward the hospital doors. As always, he looked predatory, that big carved body moving with a heavy grace and rolling power. His cheekbones were sharper, his cheeks hollowed and those black eyes shadowed. Yes, he'd suffered while she'd drawn away. Vengeance saw her through the glass just as his hand reached for the door. Their eyes caught and held.

 _You belong to me, Amber._

His rough words at the cabin seemingly ages ago echoed in her head as she stared at him. Once those words had scared her more than a little. Now she was terrified she'd never hear them again.

The last dying sunbeams of the day streaked into the room as Ven opened the door.

Amber took a deep breath.


	17. Chapter 17

"Don't say you are sorry."

All the air escaped her in a whoosh. _"What?"_

"I know that look and I am telling you, don't. I don't need it." His fierceness undid her. "I just need to know if you're done pushing me away. Because I'm not letting you anymore."

"But… _I failed you,"_ she whispered.

"You…what?" Ven was so stunned he sank to his knees by her wheelchair.

"You tried to keep me safe. In every single way. And I… couldn't keep our… baby safe."

"Amber. _Don't._ You're the strongest female I know…"

"No I'm not." she hiccupped, so relieved to see the truth in his eyes she could have melted straight through the chair and puddled onto the ground. Vengeance didn't blame her. Nothing shone in his eyes but a fierce love. "Breeze is."

Behind her, she heard a smothered chuckle and then footsteps hastily retreating. Ven held back a smile as he took her hand, frowning over how pale and thin it was against his strong brown one. "There's strong and then there's _strong."_

"I don't feel strong right now." She looked up at him, tears trembling in her lashes. Gently he used his thumb to brush them away as his heart clenched.

"You will, someday. Soon. I'll help you remember."

"Oh, and what do you remember about me?" She was teasing, but his answer shocked her silent.

"I remember that you are kind when no one is looking. That you walk softly in the woods because you don't want to damage even one plant unnecessarily. That your touch is kind and gentle, and so are your eyes. But that you are fierce when something you care about is threatened. And I know I want to be that something again."

Amber closed her eyes but the tears poured down her face anyway. "You never stopped being that for me, Vengeance, and you never will."

"Please tell me these are the happy tears again," he pleaded and she opened her eyes to see the bright hope in his.

"No." His face fell but instantly she opened her arms to have them filled with over two hundred pounds of male. Her male. _Hers._ She rubbed her cheek against his bare head. "Goddamn it, Ven. These are the _happiest_ tears. Take me home, sweetheart."

 _Eighteen Months Later_

Yellow aspen trees shivered in the breeze that carried a hint of autumn down the mountain. White rocks spilled down a grassy knoll along with a distant shout and approaching giggles.

The two males' eyes were drawn to the sounds and the hill. Both smiled before continuing their conversation.

"You're officially taking over here then?"

"Yes. As of today I am the wildlife manager for all of New Hope." Vengeance's dark eyes shone with pride.

Leo shook his head, grinning. "Your female still has you beat, though." Amber oversaw all three New Species properties as Director of Land Use.

The pride in Ven's eyes only got brighter. "That's right. But she is officially turning most of her Homeland duties over to Brass next week."

"Pretty busy life for a former hermit, isn't it?" The high-pitched giggles had gotten louder as they talked and suddenly two plump babies in sky-blue jumpers crawled into sight. Chased by a dark haired woman whose braid whipped along behind her like Leo's tail.

"Pretty amazing life," Ven breathed as he watched his family approach.

"Grab Luke, sweetheart."

With one enormous hand Ven bent and swopped his son up into his arms. Brown eyes blinked for one second at the change in altitude, then fat hands batted his cheeks. "Da. Da. _Da!"_

"Hey there, bud." Ven poked his son in the nose, making him giggle more.

"I swear they get faster every day," Amber gasped, clutching a stitch in her side, before she dropped to the grassy ground. She corralled the other baby in the circle of her legs. "What are we going to do when they start walking?"

"Get a golf cart." Leo suggested right as a chubby hand reached out to snatch at the tip of his tail. With a laugh, he sat next to Amber, his golden eyes fascinated. "Can I hold her?"

"You can try," Amber laughed, handing her daughter over.

Species loved both of the twins and doted on them to no end, but Leia was a bona fide miracle and was treated as such. Trisha and Dr. Harris were still trying to figure out how Amber and Vengeance had managed to create a girl Species at last. At first, Trisha had thought maybe it was being twins, but Luke and Leia were identical twins, born of the same egg split in two. And they both had grown at an accelerated rate in the womb. She was pressing Justice to hire a geneticist to see if they could figure it out, but the NSO leader was understandably reluctant to go forward. Not until, as he said, they could find a scientist he could trust utterly, with the lives of his people.

Leia was smiling at Leo, one of her favorite people in the whole world.

"Meow," she said firmly. Amber raised her eyebrows as Leo rocked backwards, laughing. At nearly seven months, the twins were adding daily to their small but impressive collection of words and were perilously close to walking. Though as Amber pointed out, they already crawled faster than greased lightning. Luke was pushing out of his father's arms now, trying to get to Leo and his sister. With a sigh, Ven bent down and let him go. Having young was all he'd imagined and more. Ven was so happy it hurt, in the best kind of way. He almost got Amber's happy tears problem now.

She sighed and snuggled into him as they watched the twins play with Leo. Vengeance sniffed her neck, his hand reaching behind her back so he could draw his fingers over her sleek braid. A habit he had that made Amber smile. _Mine._

He'd never get tired of her smell, he seemed to crave it more every day. Breathing deep, he pressed a kiss to her damp neck. Unable to resist flicking his tongue out to taste her. She shivered.

Leo looked over the heads of the twins and shook his head. "Go on. I got this. For a couple hours, at least."

"Are you serious?"

Luke had his fists in Leo's hair, using it to crawl up his back and Leia was sitting on his tail, watching it twitch between her toes and laughing like a loon.

"Better hurry, before I change my mind."

He didn't need to tell them twice. Vengeance pulled Amber to her feet. "Love you, Leo!" she called. He waved a hand before Vengeance tugged her up the hill and out of sight.

He was growling softly. Mostly because it turned her on, not because he was really irritated, but still….

"You got to stop telling other males that you love them, damnit."

"But I do love Leo." Amber bit her lip as she glanced over at him, trying not to laugh. "And Brass. And…"

"Say Flame and I am going to have to punish you."

"Oh is that supposed to be a deterrent? 'Cause baby, it's really…not."

They stopped in the doorway to their home with its huge wraparound porch overlooking the blue-smudged mountains. For a moment, Amber just looked up at him. Ven had let his hair grow this past year. It was thick and black, waving over his cheekbones and highlighting the depth of those dark eyes. She went on tiptoe to wrap her arms around him, her fingertips sinking into the silky strands at his nape. He leaned down, capturing her mouth, kissing her until she swayed..

Amber let out a squeal as he swung her into his arms. "What should we do with ourselves now that the babies are occupied for the moment?"

"Make more," Vengeance growled, taking his mate inside and kicking the door shut.

~~~Thank you for making this journey with me! I hope you enjoyed Amber and Ven's story as much as I loved writing it. I'd love to hear any thoughts or comments you care to share.

Now I have to finish reading Darkness and True's books and some of the truly _amazing_ New Species fanfics I have found on here. I can't wait for more from LD and all the stories her NS world has inspired. Take care! ~~~~


End file.
